Almost every day we seem to be receiving new information on 2009 giving trends and possible scenarios for this year. Last week, we saw a downbeat report for 2010 that included this, “nearly two-thirds of survey respondents report they plan to either reduce their giving or keep it the same as last year.” Today, we have the release below from Boston College’s Center on Wealth and Philanthropy.

We will take this opportunity to remind you that to get the real story about giving from 2009, watch for the results when Giving USA 2010 (the only report that examines giving behaviors and priorities on an annual basis) is released in less than two weeks. eJewish Philanthropy will carry a detailed summary and analysis.

Individual charitable giving in 2009 amounted to $217.3 billion, a decline of $11.2 billion or 4.9 percent from the estimated $228.5 billion total in 2008, according to the latest report by researchers at the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College and published by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. This 5% decline is in addition to the 6 percent decline that the Center calculated in 2008.

For 2010, the researchers project annualized individual giving totals (also known as household giving) will range between approximately $222 billion and $227 billion, an increase between 3 and 4.5 percent over the estimated total for 2009. The projected growth is based on analysis of the first two quarters according to scenarios that assume relatively low and high economic growth.

The full report, will be published in the July/August 2010 issue of Advancing Philanthropy, the magazine of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.