I am co-founder of the Python Düsseldorf Meeting, a local user group in Germany, and have been chair of the EuroPython Society (EPS) for a number of years, the organization behind EuroPython.
Local user group: There is no relationship between our user group and the PSF and I frankly don’t see how the PSF could help. We have to source things locally and a far away US organization would not be able to help much with this.
EPS: The PSF has been helpful in contributing to the EuroPython finaid program for many years, which has helped not so much the EPS, but rather the attendees of EuroPython who had a need for financial support in order to attend the conference. It’s a good way for the PSF to implement their mission by delegating such funding to other organizations world wide.
I am also running the Python events calendars team, which is meant to provide a way for local user groups and conference to spread the word about their activities. This is used on the python.org and pycon.org websites to provide infos about current and future events.
If you are an event or user group organizer, please have a look at the resources posted in Python Event Announcement Resources - #4 by malemburg
IMO, it’s a good idea for event organizers to set up their own legal entities closer to where they operate. This does take some effort, but will create a more sustainable network of Python organizations around the world to help support the community activities in the long run.