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Mirror Tool

An Evidence-Based Guide to Higher-Quality Decisions

When funders review grant applications, we are called on to make high-quality and equitable decisions. However, unconscious bias skews all human decision-making. Research shows that we can reduce bias by slowing ourselves down to recognize and address unconscious factors.

The Mirror Tool is a reflection guide that enables funders to make more conscious choices when evaluating funding applications during the grantmaking process. Ultimately, this leads to more effective individual and collective participation, and higher-quality decisions.

5 Common Types of Bias

The Mirror Tool is designed to enable users to make more conscious choices, while taking into considerations 5 types of common unconscious bias:  
    • Beauty Bias
      Be aware of and challenge assumptions that a beautifully written application or a beautifully produced video is connected to the impact and durability of the actual work, or the capacity of the team to execute the work.
    • Affinity Bias
      Be aware of whether your assessment of an application is drawing on something that you like or dislike, or something that is familiar or unfamiliar that the application recalls for you.
    • Halo/Horns Bias
      Be aware of whether one great thing you identify in an application is having a halo effect that influences your view of the rest of the application. Similarly, be careful not to allow one shortcoming you identify in an application to have a horns effect, beyond its due.
    • Confirmation Bias
      Be aware of whether you are giving high or low scores to an application based on whether the work lines up to your own preconceived beliefs, rather than the evidence presented by the organization.
    • Contrast Bias
      Be aware of whether you may be unconsciously favoring certain characteristics: bigger organizations and bigger budgets over smaller ones, more established organizations over newer ones, organizations with male over female or gender nonconforming leaders, etc.
  • Beauty Bias
    Be aware of and challenge assumptions that a beautifully written application or a beautifully produced video is connected to the impact and durability of the actual work, or the capacity of the team to execute the work.
  • Affinity Bias
    Be aware of whether your assessment of an application is drawing on something that you like or dislike, or something that is familiar or unfamiliar that the application recalls for you.
  • Halo/Horns Bias
    Be aware of whether one great thing you identify in an application is having a halo effect that influences your view of the rest of the application. Similarly, be careful not to allow one shortcoming you identify in an application to have a horns effect, beyond its due.
  • Confirmation Bias
    Be aware of whether you are giving high or low scores to an application based on whether the work lines up to your own preconceived beliefs, rather than the evidence presented by the organization.
  • Contrast Bias
    Be aware of whether you may be unconsciously favoring certain characteristics: bigger organizations and bigger budgets over smaller ones, more established organizations over newer ones, organizations with male over female or gender nonconforming leaders, etc.

Mirror Tool

We invite you to use the Mirror Tool as a reflection guide to make more conscious choices in funding decisions.

Note: Mirror Tool © 2023 by Chicago Beyond is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

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  • “I believed myself to be relatively aware of my biases. I have assessed hundreds of grant applications and advised on hundreds of millions of dollars of grants. I am also a mixed-race, second-generation immigrant, and have devoted my career to fighting for social justice and against inequality and structural racism/bias, especially in my work in philanthropy. As part of the toolkit from a recent grant application review, I received Chicago Beyond’s Mirror Tool, which functioned as a supplement to the scoring matrix..." (Continued)

    Joe Collins - Impact Consultant

  • "...In having to note, write and reflect on my biases as I reviewed and scored the applications, I was 1) struck by how biased some of my reactions are, 2) aware that even after my training and awareness mollified some of those initial reactions, I remained stubbornly entrenched in certain biases, 3) my scores were different with the influence of the Mirror Tool. I will incorporate this into every framework/matrix I build moving forward, and will preach its value to all philanthropists and investment teams I advise.”

    Joe Collins - Impact Consultant

  • "Loved the implicit bias training. I found myself coming face to face with my own leanings toward what kind of work makes the most impact for our highest need communities; great experience to let go of those personal views that I’m not sure I’ve articulated to myself before."

    Kathi Littmann - CEO/President, Greater Tacoma Community Foundation

Resources to Address Bias

  • Why Am I Always Being Researched?

    A guidebook that provides funders, researchers, and nonprofit organizations with a more equitable way to approach research and address the universal power dynamics that exist within the nonprofit space.

    Learn More

  • Recognizing Bias To Unleash Impact

    Chicago Beyond’s Founder and CEO, Liz Dozier, shares examples of bias in philanthropy and how to ensure it does not get in the way of impact.

    Learn More

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