SK Happiness Sharing Foundation's 'GodjangGibu' Surpasses 500 Million KRW in Cumulative Donations

Reflecting Sponsor Feedback to Expand Donation Areas
Driving Continuous Growth by Increasing Maximum Donation Box Amounts

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seoyoon] The Happiness Sharing Foundation, an SK social contribution foundation led by Choi Gi-won, director and younger brother of SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won, announced on the 15th that the cumulative donations through ‘Gotjang Donation’ have surpassed 500 million won this year.

Gotjang Donation, launched by the SK Happiness Sharing Foundation in 2020, established a donation system that ensures transparent management of funds by purchasing goods through open markets and covering all operating expenses. Accordingly, despite the recent trend of decreasing donations in Korea, the foundation explained that donations from supporters who sympathize with the project’s purpose have steadily increased.

The 500 million won recorded this year is five times the amount of donations in 2021 (100 million won). Gotjang Donation attributes this ‘reverse trend’ to actively listening to supporters’ opinions.

Throughout this year, Gotjang Donation reflected supporters’ opinions as much as possible and made changes. First, the donation recipients were expanded. Previously limited to local children’s centers, the recipients were extended to include orphanages, single-parent families, children’s hospitals, and abandoned animal centers, and this year the scope was further expanded to include youth preparing for independence and temporary protection facilities.

The maximum fundraising amount was also raised. To close fundraising quickly, the maximum amount per donation box, which had been maintained at 500,000 won, was increased to 1,000,000 won. This followed supporters’ requests to diversify donated items from small goods such as snacks and toys to household items like sofas and dining tables.

With the continuous love of supporters, the total cumulative number of supporters participating in Gotjang Donation has exceeded 7,000, and the total cumulative donations have surpassed 750 million won. The SK Happiness Sharing Foundation bore 67 million won in costs such as shipping fees and payment commissions to deliver 100% of the donations without any deductions.

Park Eun-sil, manager of the SK Happiness Sharing Foundation Gotjang Donation team, who has been with the project since its inception, said, “This year, especially, many supporters spread the word, resulting in meaningful donations such as birthday and fan club commemorative donations,” and added, “Although the figure of 500 million won does not represent a large share of the overall donation market, it is encouraging that the number of supporters who sympathize with Gotjang Donation’s transparency continues to grow.”

Meanwhile, as the year-end approaches, Gotjang Donation is actively conducting the ‘Gotjang Donation Story Contest’ event to give back the love received. Participants who send stories about why they donate to Gotjang Donation or meaningful episodes, totaling 122 people, will receive Gotjang Donation goods and points that can be used as donation funds when donating. In addition, together with LEGO Korea, an additional LEGO box will be given to 100 donation recipients whose fundraising is completed during December.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.