After years of growth and predictions that fund raising for higher education would escape the brunt of the economic crash, the recession has started to affect colleges' efforts to raise money, according to a survey by "The Chronicle" and Moody's Investors Service. Predictions are that 2009 may be an even tougher year for fund raisers, with shrinking annual funds and even job cuts likely. More than half of the 214 respondents to the survey of chief financial officers, conducted in early December, said their colleges' annual-gift receipts were lower than last year's. According to Bruce Flessner, a consultant who works with colleges and other nonprofit organizations, "2009 will be a flat, tough year for organizations." He further said that institutions that lost large amounts of income from endowments are scrambling, as are those that budgeted for increases in private donations.