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Wave Philanthropy team ready to collaborate with donors.

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CONTACT INFO

info@wavephilanthropy.com

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

  • WAVE is a private advisory practice. We counsel families, private foundations and family offices on strategic giving, philanthropic governance, and the preservation of the story behind the wealth. Some families retain us for one of those; a small number retain us for all three. Based in Kelowna, we work with families from Vancouver to New York.

  • Most philanthropic advice stops at the structure — the foundation is built, the grants are administered, and the reasons behind it go unrecorded. We work at both ends: the governance and the strategy that make giving effective, and the biography, documentary and archive work that record why a family gave in the first place. Keith has also sat on both sides of the ledger — as a recipient of generosity before he was ever counsel to those extending it — which shapes how the work is done.

  • Four forms. The Discovery is a single focused session to see where things stand — philanthropically, structurally, or in terms of a story not yet told. Strategic Advisory is a one-to-three month engagement to build the strategy, the structure, and the narrative underneath them. Built In Management is a fully retained relationship in which we serve as your Director of Philanthropy and Legacy, carrying the giving, the governance, and the story together. Thought Leadership & Speaking is offered separately, to organizations rather than families.

  • Yes. We guide families through structuring, governance design, and compliance, and stay on through the years that follow if that is what the family wants. A foundation is straightforward to establish and considerably harder to steward well — most of our work sits in the second part.

  • Engagements are private by default. We do not name active work publicly without the family’s written consent, and where we describe the work at all, we describe it generically until that consent is given. For families whose affairs are of interest to others, we also serve as a buffer — a single point of contact between the family and the organizations, charities and requests that come with visibility.

  • Engagements are matched to the complexity of the work rather than to a fixed minimum. We take on a small number of families at a time, which means fit matters in both directions — a first conversation is how we establish it.

  • The Discovery is a ninety-minute to half-day session, preceded by a short questionnaire. We look at where things stand across your giving, your governance, and your family’s story, and you leave with a written summary of what we found and what we would recommend next. There is no obligation beyond it.

  • Routinely. We work in step with legal, tax and investment advisors, and inside family offices alongside the team already in place. Our role is to hold the philanthropic and legacy side of the picture — not to duplicate advice the family is already well served on.

  • Yes. We preserve founders’ stories through structured interview archives, authorized biographies, documentary film, and complete family archives. For some families this runs alongside the philanthropic advisory; for others it stands entirely on its own. It is undertaken with the same discretion as every other engagement, and nothing is made public without the family’s written consent.

  • With a conversation. Most engagements start with The Discovery — a single session to establish where things stand and what, if anything, should follow. From there we would recommend the level of involvement that fits the work, and the timeline you have in mind.