"We haven't seen this level of nonprofit consideration since 2014, suggesting that consumers dissatisfied with the presidential election have been motivated to support causes that reflect their values," said Joan Sinopoli, vice president of brand solutions at The Harris Poll. "The same inspiration for 'rage donations' has extended to brand equity."

The EquiTrend Brand Equity Index is comprised of three factors -- Familiarity, Quality and Consideration -- that result in a brand equity rating for each brand. Brands ranking highest in equity receive the Harris Poll EquiTrend "Brand of the Year" award for their respective categories. This year, more than 100,000 U.S. consumers assessed more than 4,000 brands across more than 450 categories.

Liberals Rate Environmental, International Aid Nonprofits Higher than Conservatives Do
While Harris Poll's research shows that overall, liberal-leaning consumers award higher brand equity to nonprofits than conservative-leaning consumers do, the liberal-conservative gap for environmental (liberals, +14.7) and international aid (liberals, +9.0) nonprofits is significantly stronger.

"Given the timing of the survey, when we consider some of the President's campaign promises, such as cancelling the Paris Climate Agreement and early actions of the administration, such as the travel ban, it's understandable to see the outpouring of support for environmental and international aid nonprofits," said Sinopoli.

The 2017 Harris Poll EquiTrend Nonprofit Brands of the Year

Millennials Show Support for Environmental, International Aid and Youth Nonprofits
Similar to liberal-leaning consumers, millennials report higher equity for nonprofits overall compared to baby boomers, with a significant gap for international aid (+9.7 millennials), youth (+6.0 millennials) and environmental (+5.7 millennials) non-profits.

"It's been said that millennials don't support organizations, they support causes," said Sinopoli. "To raise their profile with this important generational cohort, nonprofits need to understand how to court and stay in touch with millennials to generate their support. Millennials may support your organization's cause, but how do you encourage their long-term support? That's a question that every nonprofit should be asking."

Other Key Findings

Additional nonprofit findings include:

• Environmental Nonprofit Brand of the Year National Resource Defense Council regains the lead in the category after a dip in 2016. While NRDC is a lower Familiarity brand (12%) overall, the strength of Familiarity among those aware is higher than others in the category. 

• First time International Aid Nonprofit Brand of the Year Mercy Corps has a relatively low Familiarity rating, but those aware of the brand give it very strong Quality marks and category-leading Consideration ratings. While Mercy Corps brand equity score is driven by very strong ratings from liberal-leaning consumers, the brand also performs well with Moderates and Conservatives.

• ASPCA regains the Animal Welfare Nonprofit Brand of the Year title from Best Friends Animal Society. ASPCA leads the category on Familiarity (70 percent of consumers are aware of the brand) and Quality. ASPCA is also the "Most Trusted" brand in the Animal Welfare Nonprofit category.

• Special Olympics retains the Disability Non-Profit Brand of the Year title for the second consecutive year, thanks to strong Familiarity and a category-leading Quality score.

• St. Jude Children's Research Hospital claims the Health Nonprofit Brand of the Year title for the fourth consecutive year.  St. Jude leads the category in Quality and has a significantly higher Consideration score when compared to other Health nonprofit brands. Notably, there are only 16 nonprofit brands -- including St. Jude -- where conservative consumers give higher scores than do liberals.

• American Red Cross edges out Habitat for Humanity to reclaim its Social Services Nonprofit Brand of the Year title; American Red Cross was Brand of the Year in 2012 and 2013. American Red Cross has one of the highest levels of Familiarity in the nonprofit space (tied with Goodwill at 92 percent).

• Girl Scouts of the USA, the longest-standing Nonprofit Brand of the Year, marks its sixth consecutive year as Youth Nonprofit Brand of the Year. Girl Scouts has a high level of Familiarity (85 percent), but its Consideration level keeps it at the top of the category ranking.