The First Year of the Hometown Love Donation Program... A Total of 65 Billion Won Raised

Total Number of Donations Recorded at 525,000 Cases

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 10th that the total amount raised by 243 local governments through the Hometown Love Donation System during its first year of implementation last year was approximately 65.02 billion KRW, with a total of about 525,000 donation cases.

The Hometown Love Donation System allows individuals to donate not only to their birthplace but also to their ‘second hometowns’ formed through study, work, travel, and other relationships. Local governments use the donations to improve residents' welfare and provide donors with tax deductions and return gifts.

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As a result of implementing the Hometown Love Donation System over the past year, it was found to have positive effects such as expanding local finances, enhancing citizen convenience, revitalizing the local economy, increasing the sense of donation efficacy, and helping solve community issues, in line with the original purpose of the system.

First, the donations collected over the past year significantly supported the finances of local governments facing difficulties. In particular, local governments with lower financial independence actively raised larger amounts. For example, the average amount raised by 140 local governments with a financial independence ratio below 20% was about 335 million KRW, while the average for 103 local governments with a ratio above 20% was about 174 million KRW. Donations were also actively collected in population-declining areas. The average amount raised by 89 population-declining local governments was about 380 million KRW, compared to about 200 million KRW for local governments not in population-declining areas.

By region (head office + city/county), Jeollanam-do raised about 14.33 billion KRW, Gyeongsangbuk-do about 8.99 billion KRW, and Jeollabuk-do about 8.47 billion KRW, in that order. Looking at the amounts raised by basic local governments, Damyang-gun in Jeonnam raised about 2.24 billion KRW, followed by Goheung-gun in Jeonnam with about 1.22 billion KRW, Naju-si in Jeonnam with about 1.06 billion KRW, Yecheon-gun in Gyeongbuk with about 970 million KRW, and Yeonggwang-gun in Jeonnam with about 930 million KRW, showing that many basic local governments in Jeonnam ranked high. The amount raised by Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, a metropolitan local government without subordinate basic local governments, was about 1.82 billion KRW.

Donors to the Hometown Love Donation System receive a full tax deduction benefit up to 100,000 KRW, and a 16.5% tax deduction benefit on amounts exceeding that. Additionally, they can receive return gifts equivalent to 30% of the donation amount. Over the past year, a total of about 19.3 billion KRW in return gift points were issued, and the actual purchase amount of return gifts by donors was about 15.1 billion KRW.

The purchase amount proportions by return gift type were agricultural and livestock products (38.3%), local love gift certificates (26.0%), processed foods (24.5%), and seafood (7.3%), in that order. The providers of return gifts were mainly farmers, fishermen, and small and medium enterprises, and by directly linking return gift provision and sales between local producers and donors nationwide, the system contributed to revitalizing the local economy. Furthermore, the tax reduction benefits received by donors are estimated to reach up to about 50 billion KRW.

Meanwhile, statistics related to donation behavior show that the number of donations by amount was highest for donations of 100,000 KRW, which is the full tax deduction limit, with about 440,000 cases (83% of total donations). By age group, those in their 30s accounted for about 154,000 cases (29.5%), those in their 40s about 141,000 cases (26.9%), and those in their 50s about 130,000 cases (24.8%), with the economically active age group of 30 to 50s making up a high proportion (81% of total).

Minister Lee Sang-min stated, “In the first year of the system’s implementation, many people showed interest and support for their hometowns, boosting regional vitality,” and added, “We will continue to activate the Hometown Love Donation System so that it can expand local finances, revitalize the local economy, and contribute to balanced national development.”

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