Giving Compass' Take:

• On Nonprofit AF, Vu Le discusses the concept of fairness as it relates to nonprofit work and concludes that it's often diametrically opposed to equity. Those who work in the social sector should have the courage to be "unfair."

• How many foundations are willing to give priority to organizations that help disadvantaged people, even if others are on an equal ground?  There's "fairness" and then there's what's right.

• The entire nonprofit world must acknowledge complicity when it comes to racial inequity.

The concept of “fairness” is something that we have all learned from a young age as a good thing, something to strive for. My five-year-old, for example, has now moved from the mantra of “why?” to “that’s not fair!” Sometimes he combines the two: “Why can’t I have bunny fruit snacks after brushing my teeth? That’s not fair!” (Parenting tip: Think carefully before using Google Images to show pictures of dental problems to your five-year-old)

Because of how ingrained “fairness” is, we have all internalized it, including across many aspects of our work. If we give some job candidates special treatments, that would not be fair. If we provide technical assistance to some orgs on their grant proposal and not others, that would not be fair. If we create a grant that’s only for organizations led by communities of color, that would not be fair ...

But fairness is often the diametric opposite of equity and social justice. Sure, if a job candidate shows up extremely late for an interview or misses it entirely, it may be unfair to give them a chance when other candidates showed up on time. But what if this candidate is amazing and qualified, and she can’t afford a car and the bus was late? What if she uses a wheelchair and had challenges navigating to and in your building?

Sure, if an organization asks your foundation to review their proposal to get feedback from you before they submit it, it would be unfair to give them that extra help when you don’t do it for other applicants. But what if this is the only organization that is led by a community that has suffered the most under unjust policies and systems?

Read the full article about the courage to be unfair by Vu Le at Nonprofit AF.