Fundraisers are confident that they are treating their donors well, but only one in four believe they are getting the maximum lifetime value out of their givers, according to research previewed today.

More than two thirds of respondents to an nfpSynergy survey agreed with the proposition that they are good at treating donors well, but just 26 per cent felt they were getting the most out of donors in the longterm.

Support for fundraising from the top of charities is mixed, according to early results from the research. Nearly nine in ten fundraisers said that their chief executives valued the fundraising department, but only 17 per cent felt that their trustees had robust knowledge about fundraising.

And while 70 per cent believe their chief executive places a lot of emphasis on communications and public relations, 43 per cent felt they had a strong fundraising brand.

Fundraisers, the research found, are broadly positive with 59 per cent predicting an increase in income over the three to five years.

The results of the organisation's benchmarking were released in part at the Institute of Fundraising National Convention in London this morning. nfpSynergy's Joe Saxton said he was keen for more organisations to participate in the survey in order to have meaningful benchmarking data for the sector. More data about the return on investment from recruitment, retention and via different fundraising mechanisms will be released in the future as more charities contribute to the survey.