Mondo
Earning a good rep
Businesses have something to learn from charities when it comes to reputation, says index.
di Staff
It is official. Charities have better street cred than big businesses. The Reputation Institute, the world’s leading reputation consulting firm, has extended its model for measuring a company’s reputation in the eyes of the general public to UK’s non profit sector for the first time. The results? Charities beat businesses hands down.
The highest corporate score in the UK, reported The Guardian on Wednesday, was awarded to Boots: 87.2 out of 100, far higher than the corporate sector’s average score of 64.2. But even Boots, the UK’s oldest and most popular high-street chemists, couldn’t beat the 90-plus scores achieved by UK charities. Out of 10 charities assessed, 9 came out above 80 and three above 90. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s (RNLI) score was the highest ever recorded by the institute at 95.1; the Royal Society for the Protection of Animals (RSPCA) came a close second at 92.8 and the British Red Cross third with 91.6.
The results don’t surprise Karl Wilding, head of research at the National Council for Voluntary Organizations, who says that “trust is critical – it underpins charitable giving and volunteering”.
