Expanding Your Philanthropic Network: Personal Lessons and Practical Advice
3 min read|Advice from well-known Bay Area philanthropist, Kathy Kwan.
Following a decade-long career at Kaiser Permanente, Kathy Kwan turned her attention to philanthropy and established the Eustace-Kwan Family Foundation in 2005, with her husband, Alan Eustace, a former Google senior vice president. The couple’s foundation supports nonprofits in the Bay Area that focus on educational equity, job skills, and professional development. The foundation’s grants range from $50,000 to $500,000.
As part of the Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Roundtable Series, Kwan participated in a panel discussion with Erinn Andrews from the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (PACS). Kwan worked closely with Andrews and her team to develop the Stanford PACS Guide to Effective Philanthropy. Effective philanthropy goes beyond financial support, according to Andrews, and includes donor engagement.
During the discussion, Kwan shared the following advice and lessons learned from her grantmaking experience for individuals and family foundations that are at the beginning of their philanthropic journeys.
Build a philanthropic infrastructure
Kwan says it's important to recognize when your philanthropic endeavors move beyond a hobby and require more thought and perhaps an infrastructure. In other words, how will you make grants? Who will handle back-office activities, such as sending checks and grant letters? What is the best way to invest your philanthropic assets? How will you track your giving activities? How will you make sure you follow the rules?
“At some point in your giving journey, you realize that you are running a business,” she says.
Once a giving infrastructure is defined, you and your family should determine how to allocate dollars and identify who gets to make allocation decisions. One spouse may prefer giving to large foundations; the other may wish to fund small nonprofits. Once those stylistic differences are reconciled, then you can support meaningful causes. In addition to their family foundation, Kwan and her husband each have their own donor-advised fund (DAF), a charitable-giving vehicle that gives them flexibility in distributing the investment gains of the fund to charity.
“At some point in your giving journey, you realize that you are running a business.”-Kathy Kwan
Monitor your giving habits
At the start of her philanthropic journey, Kwan supported her children’s schools and alma maters, but as she expanded her philanthropic interests, she focused more on connecting her giving to issues of personal importance, such as literacy and social support for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade, teachable skills for career development, and leadership development and diversity initiatives at UC Berkeley.
She says she also formed a close partnership with those nonprofits and institutions to ensure that her funding was making a meaningful difference in people’s lives.
“I wanted to have the confidence that those dollars were being used effectively,” Kwan says.
Learn from your mistakes
Mistakes are inevitable and part of the learning process. A philanthropist will encounter many challenges during his/her journey, which is why Kwan says it’s critical to pay attention to the fine print of the commitments you’re funding. She says you should also ask yourself the following: What is the cost per participant? How do you perceive yourself as a donor? Are you comfortable saying no to a request?
Kwan shared that she had a hard time saying no to nonprofits when she first started her giving journey but has since developed a script for how to politely decline requests that do not align with her long-term goals. One strategy is to tell recipients that you need to discuss dollar allocations with your family and financial advisor.
In terms of a specific funding amount, Kwan believes that $25,000 to $50,000 is a good starting point when you’re building a relationship with a new organization. As that partnership grows over time, you can develop a plan to provide additional grants.
“I’m looking at the quality of our relationship: How do they communicate with me? Do we have a two-way dialogue? Do they value my perspectives? Am I a partner? Do I have insight into their theory of change and some of their challenges?”
Rely on your personal network to learn about new organizations
Philanthropy is personal and relationship driven, and often requires the donor to be visible and to take risks. Kwan says 85% of her philanthropy is based in the Bay Area, where she lives, because she wants to see how the organizations she’s funding are making an impact.
“I feel great when the organization produces the results they said they were going to produce,” she said.
Kwan says it’s important to learn more about the people and groups you’re trying to help. She says donors should visit the nonprofit and ask open-ended questions: Whom do you serve? What are your challenges? What are things you worry about? How can I help?
This material is intended for educational purposes only and is provided solely on the basis that it will not constitute investment advice and will not form a primary basis for any personal or plan’s investment decisions. While it is based on information believed to be reliable, no warranty is given as to its accuracy or completeness and it should not be relied upon as such. Goldman Sachs is not a fiduciary with respect to any person or plan by reason of providing the material herein, information and opinions expressed by individuals other than Goldman Sachs employees do not necessarily reflect the view of Goldman Sachs. This material may not, without Goldman Sachs’ prior written consent, be (i) copied, photocopied or duplicated in any form, by any means, or (ii) distributed to any person that is not an employee, officer, director, or authorized agent of the recipient. This material is not an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security in any jurisdiction. Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of money invested. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Neither asset diversification or investment in a continuous or periodic investment plan guarantees a profit or protects against a loss. Information and opinions provided herein are as of the date of this material only and are subject to change without notice.
© 2023 The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) as both a broker-dealer and an investment adviser and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”).
© 2025 Goldman Sachs. All rights reserved.