Theatres, by and large, know how to plan for and run their businesses. That’s the breaking news from the latest Theatre Communications Group Fiscal Pulse quarterly survey, which looks largely at budget realities versus budget projections of theatres all over the country.

In every category, a plurality of theatres said their budget projections were generally on track, from attendance to single ticket income to foundations and corporate contributions. Of course, “on track” means after theatres adjusted for the economic downturn.

Most theatres, in a companion survey, The New Normal, said that 2009 was a year of retrenchment and restructuring. Many cut or reorganized staffs. Many did smaller shows and cast more shows locally. And many cut rehearsal times.

The New Normal report concludes that theatres are worried that while their finances are fine, the cost to their human capital and the art, itself, may be high, as overworked staffs run out of steam.

But the good news is, theatres are optimistic. In the Fiscal Pulse survey, 61 percent of theatres said they were holding steady for next year, and 25 percent said they felt their situations were on the upswing. And in the New Normal survey, 70 percent of respondents said they were doing better than last year, though some theatres equivocated that they were doing better art-wise, but not staff-wise.

A look at the specific numbers in the Fiscal Pulse survey, though, reveals that the glass could be considered half full or half empty. Twenty-nine percent of theatres whose fiscal years ended by February of 2010 said they broke even. But 34 percent said they had some sort of deficit (mostly a mild deficit) and 37 percent said they had some sort of surplus (again, mostly small).

For theatres whose fiscal years end between March and September, many more of them (36 percent) project ending in a deficit versus those that anticipate a surplus (26 percent). More theatres (38 percent) said they were projecting break even budgets.

Ironically, theatres in the middle of their fiscal years reported better specific numbers than theatres whose budget years have ended. In terms of single ticket income, 39 percent said that it was higher than projected, while only 30 percent of theatres who have finished their fiscal years reported higher single ticket income.

That trend runs across the board. Theatres in the middle of their fiscal years report statistics that are more optimistic than those theatres whose fiscal years have ended. And yet, they’re more trepidatious about the future. In this group, 32 percent of theatres say they are planning to decrease their budget next year, while only 28 percent of theatres whose years have ended say they’ve reduced their budgets. Of the theatres still in the middle of their years, 40 percent say they are keeping things the same, versus 43 percent who have finished their fiscal years.

That pessimism between the two groups was in evidence in November’s Fiscal Pulse survey.

Perhaps reflecting the new reality, most respondents are moving away from corporate, foundation or government support. Asked what their top five concerns and priorities are for next year, 64 percent said individual giving, 61 percent said audience development (translating to single ticket sales), 50 percent said board development, 34 percent said strategic planning, and finally foundation giving snuck in at 32 percent. Only 7 percent of theatres are planning to share resources or use social media.

The Fiscal Pulse survey included 435 theatres with budgets ranging from under $50,000 to over $10 million. The plurality of theatres (107) sit in the $50,000-$249,000 range. The New Normal survey polled 476 TCG member theatres in a phone tree format. Both surveys can be found at tcg.org.