What is a Community Foundation?

A community foundation is a tax-exempt public charity created by and for the people in a local area. It enables people with philanthropic interests to easily and effectively support the issues and organizations they care about. Community foundations do this by helping individuals, families, and businesses establish charitable funds to which they may contribute a variety of assets or by granting out unrestricted funds through a competitive grant process. Because Community Foundations are intimately knowledgeable about the nonprofit activities of a region, they are able to advise donors and serve as effective partners to local nonprofits. By strengthening the donor/organization relationship, community foundations increase philanthropic impact for their geographic area. Community foundations have a long tradition of helping bring about thoughtful, effective change. The first one was started in 1914, and there are now more than 650 throughout the United States.

What is the Park City Foundation?

The Park City Foundation is a community foundation that promotes philanthropy and partners with the nonprofit community to strengthen the greater Park City region.

Our mission: The Park City Foundation connects private philanthropy with the greater Park City community by optimizing the impact of each charitable gift. As a community foundation, we offer professional strategies and services for our donors, and support to strengthen local nonprofits for the betterment of the community.

Our business practices and decisions are lead by our values:

• Vision - looking beyond today to meet the needs of the community by guiding and advising our donors, nonprofits and other partners.
• Integrity - earning the respect of our donors, our partners and the community at large by performing at the highest level, beyond reproach, in an efficient, sustainable and transparent manner.
• Collaboration - facilitating partnerships by aligning and leveraging community resources to address community needs.
• Sophisticated philanthropy - optimizing the value of each gift through quality donor services, consolidation of resources, and combining our in depth knowledge and understanding of greater Park City with effective community enhancement strategies.

What does The Park City Foundation Do?

The Park City Foundation gives grants to regional charitable organizations, acts as a resource and facilitator for donors and service providers, and is a catalyst to solve problems and anticipate emerging needs for our unique and growing community.

What does the Park City Foundation do for Donors?

The Park City Foundation makes philanthropy easier for donors by providing maximum flexibility and services. It provides accountability for charitable gifts, in-depth nonprofit information, recognition, anonymity, tax benefits, and endowment management. It offers a wide range of donor options including unrestricted gifts and donor advised, designated, and field of interest funds.

What does The Park City Foundation do for Nonprofits?

The Park City Foundation partners with nonprofit organizations to maximize the impact of local philanthropy. We offer access to competitive grants, donor advised grants, organizational development workshops, and regional networking. The Park City Foundation aims to connect nonprofits to donors that share their community values and goals.

What has the park city foundation done?

Since the beginning of 2008, The Park City Foundation has granted over $100,000 in donor directed grants to nonprofit organizations. The Foundation has transitioned from a volunteer organization to a fully established community foundation offering a range of donor services: donor advised funds, competitive grantmaking, and advice on nonprofit giving. Additionally, The Foundation is working closely with area organizations to provide services to nonprofits; for example, it has partnered with the Utah Nonprofits Association to host Executive Director Roundtables.

Why Do We Need The Park City Foundation?

• To provide ease of giving and regional expertise to the donor community;
• To provide permanence and sustainability to the philanthropic field;
• To facilitate collaboration among local organizations through networking, shared projects, and increased communication;
• To attract new donor financial support into the community, which will then be disbursed to nonprofit organizations for unmet financial needs;
• To offer a local competitive granting source;
• To enable donors to support the field(s) in which they have an interest, rather than selecting a specific charity;
• To educate by providing seminars, workshops, one-on-one consultation, and reference materials for use by the entire community relating to non-profit management and operations;
• To increase the capacity of local organizations to achieve their missions in the most cost-effective manner possible.

How is The Park City Foundation funded?

Thanks to a community philanthropist, The Park City Foundation’s administrative costs are covered through 2011. Therefore, all funds raised, primarily through individual gifts, go directly back into the community. In the long term, we hope to build a community endowment and utilize competitively priced fees to cover costs.

Should donors give directly to The Park City Foundation and to charities?

We would encourage them to give to both. If an individual has a specific cause or charity, certainly they should support it. However, it would be difficult or impossible for an individual donor to analyze, assist, steward and continually involve themselves in over 150 nonprofits in our region. If an individual is interested in supporting Park City in general and reaching organizations they may not know that are providing critical services, the Foundation is a great vehicle for them. Additionally, if a donor is positioned to create a giving mechanism that will last into perpetuity, the Foundation provides diverse options.

Why should I partner with The Park City Foundation instead of setting up a private foundation?

The Park City Foundation is a public charity, and therefore donors receive maximum tax benefits when they make a contribution, whereas gifts made to a private foundation are more limited. Private foundations are exposed to excise taxes and various restrictions as to what can and cannot be held in their investment pool. With a fund at a community foundation, donors have no meeting or reporting requirements. Donors to The Park City Foundation also become part of a community of givers who strengthen the greater Park City community. If you already have an active private foundation, it is possible to partner with The Park City Foundation to ease your administrative burdens and utilize our community knowledge.

What are the differences between a charitable fund at a financial service firm and a fund and The Park City Foundation?

Donor Advised funds through financial institutions and community foundations offer the same tax deductibility and most have an online grant system; however, The Park City Foundation offers superior donor services through its intimate knowledge of community needs and community organizations. Community Foundations offer these advantages:

• A full range of gift opportunities including bequests, real estate, and non marketable securities.
• Local Expertise: The Park City Foundation monitors community issues, opportunities and resources; funds high-impact initiatives; and partners with nonprofits to improve services.
• Fees are recycled back into the community to encourage more philanthropy and community building. Fees charged by commercial institutes benefit only the financial institution.

How does the park city foundation differ from the united way?

The simple answer is that the United Way is the community’s check book, and a community foundation is its savings account.  Community Foundations and United Way often work together to produce community needs assessments, encourage local philanthropy and tackle issues.  However, the organizations do differ.  United Way works within specific areas of interest and promotes capacity building and funding.  United Way of Greater Salt Lake is an endowed organization that works with family foundations, corporations and other donors to volunteer, contribute, and advocate for their communities.  Community Foundations support a broad range of organizations and donors by providing a variety of giving vehicles.  They strive to build a permanent set of endowed funds so that giving today impacts tomorrow.