How Charitable Are Sarasota Residents?

How generous is your community? The answer to that question may determine in part how cities and towns pull through tough economic times, as government cut welfare and Americans are hit hard by unemployment, foreclosure and other financial problems.

“There’s a storm coming,” says Bruce Katz, vice president at the Brookings Institution, and an expert on the nation’s cities. “Which places are prepared?”

Katz says local governments should be thinking hard about how to encourage giving because “we don’t have the welfare programs that we have had in the past. The need for individual giving is greater than it has been in modern memory.”

The Chronicle of Philanthropy offers an easy-to-use interactive map based on ZIP code that shows just how charity-minded U.S. communities are. A special report on "How America Gives" uses data from 2008, the most recent available, and provides detail down to the city and ZIP-code level about the relative generosity of U.S. communities.

Here's a quick look at giving in Sarasota :

Ranking: 468 out of 11,522 surveyed

Percent of income given: 5.9%

Median contribution: $3,882

Median discretionary income: $66,335

To see giving by ZIP code in Sarasota, or any other city or town in the U.S., check out the Chronicle of Philanthropy's Giving Map.

See More on Charitable Giving

"How America Gives," Special Report by the Chronicle of Philanthropy

Patch Calendar of Charitable Events in Sarasota