Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie founded their joint charity project, The Jolie-Pitt Foundation (JPF) back in 2006. From what I remember, both Brad and Angelina both made initial multi-million dollar investments in the foundation, and then donated the money People Magazine and Hello gave them for Shiloh’s first pictures. And then came the twins – Brad and Angelina have never come right out and said how much they got for the twins’ first pictures in 2008, but most estimates have it in the $10-15 million range. Along the way, I’m sure Angelina and Brad have put in more of their own money into the Foundation, and E! even contributed $250,000 in 2007 – either as a general apology for Ryan Seacrest, or something involving E! cameramen breaking and entering on Brad’s property or something.

My point? By my estimates, the Jolie-Pitt Foundation has received something in the neighborhood of $20-25 million in its nearly four years. The foundation doesn’t really serve any purpose (to me) other than to legitimize Angelina and Brad’s charitable giving, giving it a professional and less personal veneer. The JPF is run separately from their other charity work – it’s not a part of Make It Right NOLA, or the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Project in Cambodia, or Angelina’s Global Action for Children, or her work with the UNHCR, although they contribute to those charities through the JPF. With some-odd eight digits in the bank, Brad and Angelina spent 2008 donating like crazy, according to recent tax filings that the Hollywood Reporter just got:

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie don’t just talk the talk, they walk the walk. According to the 2008 tax return for the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, the Hollywood couple sent over $6 million to charities last year.

Indeed, they more than doubled what they gave in 2007, which is pretty impressive.

In 2008, the pair parked just over $13 million in their foundation, and gave away half of it.

The biggest recipients of their largesse were: Global Health ($2 million), Human Rights Watch ($1 million), Brad’s Make it Right Foundation ($1 million).

Some other notable contributions: $500,000 to the Armed Services YMCA of the U.S. Army; $50,000 to the Springfield, Missouri Public Schools (Brad’s hometown); and roughly a million dollars to projects in Cambodia, the country from which they adopted their first child.

The nice thing about Brad and Angelina’s donations: there are no cults, no crazy projects, private religions, nothing untoward or wacky. It’s all about human rights initiatives and helping people. They’ve also kept their promises to places like Cambodia and Iraq. All together, the fair market value of the Jolie-Pitt Foundation is just over $12 million.

No scandals here. Just a nice story. By the way, Brad and Angie each put about $6 million into the foundation last year. Their lawyer, Robert Offer, added $10,000 out of his own pocket. And all they paid in expenses was $224,564 for grant management to Global Philanthropy Group. No one’s aunt or cousin got a salary, and there were no expenses laid off to “travel,” “conferences,” or “other.”

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

One of my favorite parts about the evolution of the JPF is that Brad and Angelina are not just giving globally, to larger charities doing broad work internationally, they’re also giving locally to smaller charities that may be overlooked. Over the past year, they’ve begun to give extensively to Brad’s home state of Missouri, donating to a Missouri university in Brad’s dad’s name, and to a Missouri hospital in his mom’s name. I know people will still have negative stuff to say about this, but I will join with the Hollywood Reporter in being thankful this money didn’t go to the Church of Scientology or to fund some new XenuMobile. It’s nice.