"Even Long-Term Sponsors Have Lost Contact"... Donation Rates Plummet Amid Economic Downturn

Year-End Sponsors for Childcare Facilities Decrease Compared to Previous Years
"Clothes and Shoes for Orphanage Children? This Year, Snacks"

"There are many children in orphanages experiencing language problems who need treatment costs, but this year donations have decreased, so we are worried."

On the 28th, Mr. A, the director of a child care facility in Mapo-gu, Seoul, sighed, saying that year-end donor donations have drastically decreased compared to previous years. Usually, during Christmas and year-end, 3 to 4 groups of corporate donors would visit daily, but this year, visits have completely stopped. Moreover, as the number of children experiencing language development difficulties has increased since COVID-19, the orphanage is facing a situation where it needs to secure more operating funds. Mr. A feels overwhelmed thinking about raising treatment costs for children with developmental delays.

Officials from the Seoul Briquette Bank are volunteering to distribute briquettes in a residential area of Jeongneung-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul on the 4th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Due to high inflation and economic recession, donations to social welfare facilities have also decreased this year-end. Welfare organizations had expected donations to increase as the economy recovered after the pandemic ended, but they are distressed by the slow growth in donations.

At a child care facility in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, operations have become difficult as donor contributions have decreased. Social worker Mr. B, who works at the facility, said, "Even long-term donors who have had a relationship with the facility for a long time have recently lost contact," adding, "Donors who are economically struggling due to the recession feel sorry and refrain from calling."

Recently, the types of gifts donors give to children in orphanages have shifted to smaller amounts. Mr. B said, "Every year at year-end, donors would gift clothes and shoes to the children, but this year, there are unusually many snack packages," adding, "Looking at the types of gifts coming into the orphanage at year-end, you can really feel the economic downturn."

As a result of the economic recession, the number of citizens who responded that they donated this year has decreased compared to the period when the economy was most difficult due to COVID-19. According to Statistics Korea's '2023 Social Survey Results,' 23.7% of respondents said they donated in the past year.

This is 1.9 percentage points lower than in 2019 (25.6%), before the spread of COVID-19. The most common reason for not donating was "lack of financial means," cited by 46.5% of respondents.

With a sharp decrease in donors and soaring prices, organizations relying on in-kind donations are facing greater difficulties. A representative of 'Social Welfare Won-gak,' a social welfare organization operating a free meal service at Tapgol Park in Jongno, said, "Imported kimchi, which cost 12,000 to 13,000 won earlier this year, has now risen to 16,000 won," lamenting, "With rising prices, daily food expenses have increased by about 50,000 won, totaling around 1.5 million won per month compared to last year."

He added, "Farmers used to occasionally donate grade A agricultural products for ingredients, but recently, many grade B agricultural products have been donated."

Due to the economic downturn, donations of briquettes have decreased, forcing the Briquette Bank to lower its expected donation targets. The Briquette Bank's delivery target until March next year is 3.7 million briquettes, but as of the 15th, only about 2.46 million have been delivered. Heo Gi-bok, the representative of the Briquette Bank, said, "Expecting briquette prices to rise due to high inflation, we lowered this year's target from about 4.23 million last year to 3 million, but still failed to reach the goal."

Experts explain that since the economic recession is expected to continue, social welfare organizations need to overcome the situation by adopting different fundraising methods than before.

Lee Young-joo, research part leader at the Beautiful Foundation's Donation Culture Research Institute, advised, "Previously, we distributed flyers or ran many television ads, but now we need to change the ways we communicate with donors through social networking services (SNS) and other methods," adding, "Since COVID-19, there has been a growing awareness of the need to shift from traditional methods, and donation fundraising education is actively being conducted mainly among welfare organizations."

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