Patch's Polls: How Much of Your Income Do You Give to Charity?

Do you give a good amount of your money to charity? If you’re from Connecticut, then you’re in the minority.

New data released by The Chronicle of Philanthropy put Connecticut at 45th when calculating the percentage of one's discretionary income that went to a charitable cause. State residents here give just 3.3 percent of their income to charity, which is still higher than the rest of New England but much lower than other states like Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi.

To see a breakdown by towns, click here.

The most charitable state was Utah, whose state residents gave over 10 percent of their discretionary income. Utah is a notably religious state, with the majority of its religious adhering to the Mormon faith. Much of the data showed that residents from the least religious states are also the most stingy with giving, and the residents from the more religious states are likely to give to charity.

The Chronicle based its data on charitable deductions based on by the Internal Revenue Service tax returns from 2008.

But for this very reason, Angela Powers of the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven, said analyzing charitable deductions can be deceiving.

According to The Associated Press, Powers noted that about half of all money to her organization comes in the form of estate gifts, which wouldn’t be reported in individual tax returns.

And it should be noted that Connecticut, overall, ranked 22 in terms of total contribution to charity, having given $2.3 billion in 2008.

Now it’s time to put you on the spot. What percentage of your income went to charity last year? Take our poll and share your thoughts in the comments.