If you’ve ever wondered whether your charitable dollars do more good close to home or as part of something larger – across the state, the country, or the globe – you’re weighing a question with no single right answer. At Park City Community Foundation, we don’t think this has to be an either/or decision. The most fulfilling giving strategies are often the ones that make room for both – grounded in the community and reaching beyond it. 

Here’s how to think through the balance, along with some practical steps to help you build a giving plan that reflects your values. 

Why Local Giving Matters 

There’s something powerful about seeing the direct impact of your generosity. When you support a local nonprofit, whether it’s an organization tackling affordable housing, a youth mentorship program, or the local food pantry, you’re often just a short drive away from seeing the results firsthand. You might run into the people your dollars have helped at the grocery store or the trailhead. 

Local giving also strengthens the fabric of the community you call home. Mountain towns like ours face distinct challenges: a high cost of living, workforce housing shortages, and the pressures that come with being both a resort destination and a year-round community. Local nonprofits are often the ones working most nimbly and knowledgeably on these issues. 

Why National (or Global) Giving Matters, Too 

At the same time, some causes are bigger than any one community can address alone – medical research, disaster relief, climate resilience, or systemic policy change. National and international organizations often bring scale, specialized expertise, and infrastructure that a local nonprofit may not have the capacity to build. If a cause resonates deeply with your personal story or values, it’s worth supporting regardless of geography. 

The key isn’t choosing one over the other. It’s being intentional about how your giving helps you achieve real impact and how meaningful it is to you. 

Questions to Guide Your Giving Strategy 

Before deciding where your next gift goes, consider asking yourself: 

• What do I want my giving to accomplish? Immediate, visible impact? Long-term systemic change? Both are valid, and they often point toward different kinds of organizations. 

• What issues am I personally connected to? Sometimes the pull toward a cause comes from lived experience, family history, or professional expertise. That connection can help you decide where local knowledge matters most. 

• How much do I want to be involved beyond a monetary gift? Local giving often opens the door to volunteering, board service, or attending events, ways to deepen your relationship with an organization. National giving may be more hands-off by nature. 

• Am I giving reactively or with a plan? It’s easy to give in response to whatever headline or appeal crosses your feed. A written giving plan, even a simple one, helps ensure your dollars reflect your priorities rather than the news cycle. 

• What percentage feels right for local vs. national causes? There’s no universal formula, but naming a rough split (60/40, 70/30, etc.) can bring clarity and make it easier to say yes or no to new requests. 

Actionable Tips for Balancing Your Giving 

Once you’ve worked through those questions, a few practical steps can help you act on them: 

• Start with a giving inventory. List out where you gave last year and roughly how much. Sort those gifts into “local” and “national/global” buckets. Seeing the actual split, rather than your assumption of it, can be illuminating. 

• Set an intentional allocation. Decide on a rough percentage split between local and broader causes and revisit it annually as your priorities or life circumstances change. 

• Use a donor-advised fund (DAF) to stay organized. A DAF held with Park City Community Foundation lets you support both local nonprofits and national organizations from a single account, while keeping your giving history and tax documentation simple. Learn more here >> 

• Pair a big-picture cause with a local one that addresses the same issue. If you’re passionate about early childhood care and education nationally, consider also supporting that work right here through an organization like PC Tots, Park City Education Foundation, or the Community Foundation’s Early Childhood Alliance. 

• Ask nonprofits how they measure impact. Whether local or national, a well-run organization should be able to tell you clearly how your gift translates into outcomes. This helps you compare apples to apples across geographies. 

• Loop in your advisor. Your financial or wealth advisor can help you think through the tax and timing implications of a diversified giving strategy, especially if it involves appreciated assets, qualified minimum distributions, or multi-year commitments. 

• Connect with the Community Foundation. We track the local nonprofit landscape closely and can point you toward organizations making a real difference on the issues you care about, whether you’re new to giving here or looking to deepen what you already do. 

• Revisit your plan annually. Life changes, community needs change, and national priorities shift. An annual check-in keeps your giving aligned with what matters most to you. 

A Partner for Either Direction 

Park City Community Foundation exists to help donors give well, whether that means connecting you with a local nonprofit doing critical work in Park City and Summit County, or helping you structure your giving to support causes far beyond our mountain town. Reach out to Alexis Brown, VP of Development, at alexis@parkcitycf.org to set up a conversation.