Brookfield Among Nation's Most Charitable Communities

Brookfield is in the top 4 percent of municipalities around the country when it comes to charitable giving, according to a report released Monday by The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

The report, titled "How America Gives," examined Internal Revenue Service data from 2008 — the most recent year available — and provides detail down to the ZIP code level about the generosity of people in particular geographic areas.

The report's website also includes an interactive database that allows users to research charitable giving by state, community or ZIP code.

Overall, Brookfield’s total contributions ranked No. 383 out of 11,522 municipalities studied, with its residents having donated $50.9 million to charity. , according to the report, and the Milwaukee area ranks 42nd of the 50 largest metropolitan areas.

Data was organized into four categories:

• Total contributions
• Median contributions
• Median discretionary income
• Percent of income given.

In Brookfield, the least affluent families were the most charitable — at least when it came to percentage of income:

• Households with an annual income between $50,000 and $100,000 gave 5.9 percent of that income.
• Households with income between $100,000 and $200,000 contributed 4.5 percent.
• Households with income above $200,000 gave 4.1 percent.

Families in the highest brackets made much larger contributions, however. The average charitable contribution for a Brookfield family with income above $200,000 was $13,087, compared to $2,075 for a family in the lower income bracket, the report said.