By Holly Hall

Confidence in the fund-raising climate continues to be at or near record lows, according to the latest biannual survey of fund raisers conducted by Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy.

The Summer 2009 Philanthropic Giving Index — based on the average of two measures in which fund raisers rate the present giving climate and how confident they feel about the next six months — is 65.4 percent.

That’s virtually unchanged from six months ago when the index was 64.8. However, fund raisers’ confidence in their ability to raise money has declined sharply along with the economy: Just one year ago, the index stood at 82.8.

The biggest drop occurred in fund raisers’ assessment of the current giving climate. The rating they gave to their present ability to raise money was 58.0, a historic low in the 11 years the survey has been conducted. That’s a big drop from the high of 93.7 in the summer of 2000 and 81.7 just one year ago.

Another notable response was the number of fund raisers, more than 86 percent, who said the economy was having a negative or very negative effect on their ability to raise money in the first half of this year.

Fund raisers were slightly more optimistic about their ability to generate donations in the next six months. The expectations measure, as it’s called, was 72.8, an increase of about 10 percent over what it was six months ago — but still 13.2 percent less than one year ago.

For the past three consecutive surveys, the number of fund raisers who reported success with major gifts and foundation grants declined by 23 percent and 39 percent, respectively, since December 2007 when the recession began. Similar drops were reported for planned gifts and corporate gifts.

Online access to past and present editions of the Philanthropic Giving Index is free to “premium services” members of the Center on Philanthropy’s Web site. Nonmembers may purchase a seven-day pass online for $149.