How We Work
01 —
With Individuals
We work with families and individuals to craft philanthropic strategies designed for maximum impact. We manage grant portfolios, present grantmaking opportunities for consideration, communicate with grantees and conduct research, due diligence and reporting. Persimmon Consulting can act as your representative to grantees, with fellow funders and at conferences, whether you choose to be anonymous or public in your giving.
02 —
With Foundations
We bring proven expertise in designing philanthropic strategies for systemic change in an issue area or geographic region. We work in partnership with foundation staff and other stakeholders and enlist additional expertise as needed. We offer grantmaking program design and grant review services to foundations and other grantmaking organizations.
03 —
With Businesses
We work with socially and environmentally responsible businesses to create grantmaking strategies and manage grant programs that align with their corporate values and identity, help engage and retain great employees, strengthen their supply chain, and create bold, lasting change with their philanthropic dollars.
Our Philosophy
At Persimmon Consulting, we understand that the most pressing issues facing communities — from racial and social justice to climate change to economic justice and women’s rights — are interwoven. We are interested in deep inquiry into those complexities, passionate about learning from people in communities, and committed to helping identify audacious strategies for the change-makers who are improving people’s lives and the health of the planet.
Grantmaking strategy and portfolio management designed to make lasting change for people and the planet.
Meet Kirsten
Kirsten Scobie, owner and principal of Persimmon Consulting Company, has extensive experience designing and implementing grantmaking strategies for lasting change.
She is passionate about working with a diverse array of clients whose philanthropy is supporting change-makers locally, nationally and around the world. She enjoys the variety of her work — from advising long-term strategy and managing complex initiatives to stepping in to help on specific philanthropic portfolio areas.
As director of Tillotson Funds for the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, she managed one of the largest rural philanthropies (more than $100m in assets) in the United States for eight years while designing and overseeing related funds in four states, Canada and Guatemala.
Kirsten has worked with nonprofit organizations from Albuquerque and Chicago to rural New Hampshire. Her life experience includes working for a service leadership program, volunteering on a farm and teaching English as a Second Language in Chile. She is passionate about designing and managing philanthropic portfolios with a social and racial justice lens, including community and economic development, local foods/agriculture, women's health and wellness, and democracy and civic engagement. And she understands that none of those issues exists in a vacuum, but all are deeply intertwined.
Affinity Groups & Memberships
