By coordinating partners’ services, Frontline 360° is achieving significant impact. Learn more in this feature from Laurie Mazur, published by Inside Philanthropy.

It takes money to make money, as the saying goes. The same is true of raising money. Successful fundraising requires resources that are in short supply for many small, community-based nonprofits. That means many groups could miss out on new federal funding that is targeted to front-line, historically marginalized communities.

“We have such an amazing opportunity with federal funds coming from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act,” says Yeou-Rong Jih, program officer for the Kresge Foundation’s Environment Program. “And there’s an extreme lack of capacity on the ground to make sure that these funds go where they are needed most.”

An initiative called Frontline 360° is building that capacity. Frontline 360° draws on a multi-partner collaboration to help community-based climate and environmental justice groups apply for funding and make best use of it when it comes. Launched by Anthropocene Alliance, which is a grantee partner of Kresge’s Climate Resilient and Equitable Water Systems (CREWS) initiative, Frontline 360° is a partnership of the Environmental Protection Network, Thriving Earth Exchange, the Community and College Partners Program and the Center for Applied Environmental Science.

Kresge is an integral backer of the effort, having funded the Anthropocene Alliance, where it’s housed, since 2017. Other major funders include the Walton Family Foundation, the Water Foundation (an intermediary backed by several green funders), and Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies.

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