First In, Many Follow: How Foundations are Anchoring the Next Wave of Blended Finance
CrossBoundary Group - March 24, 2026
Foundations and philanthropic actors globally have only recently begun leaning into catalytic capital within blended finance.
In a new white paper, CrossBoundary Advisory provides a practical framework for philanthropies to accelerate blended finance in underserved markets. With shrinking ODA, foundations play a critical role in filling financing gaps for impact. However, they often face structural tensions around impact, leverage, and the additionality of their capital.
The paper unpacks blended finance for philanthropies, sets out a useful framework for impact, leverage, and additionality, introduces a simple 2×2 framework for foundation participation, and grounds these ideas in real-world case studies
Read the white paper here.