Interrogating the Good: Moral Credibility and the Optics of Progress

Due to the history of philanthropy, nonprofit and civic organizations have mostly built their engagement infrastructure around a single question: Is this person willing to serve? And that willingness to serve, author Breauna Dorelus argues, automatically generates moral credibility, creating a false sense of connection to “in good standing.” Being able to say “I give back” has become a moniker for "I'm a good person,” she writes. “Because of course, volunteers are good people and good people volunteer….right?”

In this Engage feature, Dorelus interrogates the concept of “good” while probing moral credibility and the optics of progress in volunteerism. She begins with a remarkable story about volunteers who “wrapped their harm in the appearance of civic duty,” a story that anchors  Dorelus’ review of contradictory barriers in volunteerism and service. Dorelus argues convincingly that “until our engagement infrastructure is built to interrogate the good, and co-dream together, we will keep handing out signs, prioritizing optics and giving out awards to people to build their moral credibility, who know exactly what harm to do with it.”