Unicef knocks CRUK off the top of charity social media index

25 Sep 2012 News

Unicef has topped the second Charity Social 100 Index, with Cancer Research UK slipping into second place.

Unicef UK has topped the second Charity Social 100 Index, with Cancer Research UK slipping into second place.

Unicef UK came 23rd in last year's index, which ranks civil society organisations in the UK. But the report notes that in the last year the charity "has grown in strength by developing engaging multi-media, multi-platform experiences" such as hosting a Google+ hangout (webchat) with actress Keeley Hawes.

The biggest climber was Médecins Sans Frontiéres which moved up 70 places from 85 to 15.

Overall the index found that that social media use had grown over the last year with the top 100 having 3.7 million followers between them which is an increase of 1.7 million. On Facebook the total number of followers across the top 100 has gone from 3.5 million in 2011 to 7 million in 2012.

Anne McCrossan, founder of Visceral Business which runs the index wrote in the foreword: “There’s more complexity in social media today than there was 12 months ago, more platforms to consider.”

She added that more charities are now “digital by default” and described it as a “significant step-change”. But she also added: “Challenges remain at how strategic planning will weave income, brand and social marketing considerations together.”

The index was produced by Visceral Business in partnership with JustGiving by taking a snapshot of 300 charities’ activity across different social networking sites and their own online communities and combining this with brand metrics research to give charities a total score.

2012 Top 10 (2011 ranking in brackets)

  1. Unicef (23)
  2. Cancer Research UK (1)
  3. British Heart Foundation (2)
  4. Amnesty International (6)
  5. Dogs Trust (22)
  6. RSPCA (5)
  7. Save the Children (8)
  8. Oxfam (3)
  9. National Trust (7)

The report can be downloaded from here.