Yonsei Medical Center Surpasses 83 Billion Won in Annual Donations... Up 55% from Previous Year

Individual and Patient Donations Reach 56.3 Billion Won, Accounting for 68% of Total

Gangnam Severance Hospital Leads All Institutions with 29.3 Billion Won

Yonsei Medical Center announced on April 6 that its donations for the 2025 academic year (March 2025 to February 2026) reached 83.04055 billion won. This represents a 55% increase compared to the previous year's 53.6 billion won.

Outdoor view of Yonsei Medical Center. Yonsei Medical Center

The total number of donors was 12,615. Individuals and patients accounted for 7,469 donors, making up 59.2% of the total. This was followed by 4,366 current and former faculty and staff, 487 alumni, 199 organizations, and 94 companies. The number of individual and patient donors increased by 114% compared to the previous year.

In terms of donation amounts, individuals and patients contributed the most, with a total of 56.3 billion won. Current and former faculty and staff contributed 10.4 billion won, alumni 6.5 billion won, companies 5.7 billion won, and organizations 4.2 billion won. Donations from individuals and patients increased by 85% compared to the previous year (30.5 billion won).

By affiliated institutions, Gangnam Severance Hospital accounted for the largest share with 29.3 billion won, representing 35% of the total. This was followed by the College of Medicine with 18.8 billion won, Severance Hospital with 14.8 billion won, and the Medical Center with 10.4 billion won. In terms of the number of donations, Severance Hospital took the lead with 31,092 cases, followed by Gangnam Severance Hospital (19,416 cases) and the Medical Center (10,767 cases).

By purpose, development donations made up the largest portion at 56.3 billion won. This was followed by construction donations at 12.6 billion won, social welfare support at 8 billion won, and research donations at 3.1 billion won.

The largest donor last year was the late Lee Min-hoo, who donated 4,400 shares of Korea Shipping Corporation stock worth approximately 20.3 billion won to Gangnam Severance Hospital as a development donation in September last year. This is the highest legacy donation ever made to Yonsei Medical Center.

Support from the entertainment industry also continued. Suga of BTS (real name Min Yoongi) donated 5 billion won to establish a specialized treatment center for the care and social independence of patients with autism spectrum disorder. Jang Wonyoung of the girl group IVE and actor Byun Wooseok donated 200 million won and 100 million won, respectively, to support the treatment of pediatric and adolescent patients.

Among companies and organizations, Park Hyun-nam, Chairman of Sungho Electronics, completed the full payment of a pledged amount of 1 billion won to support the development of the Medical Center. Halla Medical Foundation pledged 1.5 billion won to support the construction of a new College of Medicine building. The JW Lee Jong-ho Foundation signed a sponsorship agreement to provide 500 million won to support overseas medical personnel training programs.

Yonsei Medical Center has set new records for the highest donation amount for four consecutive years by carrying out proactive and systematic fundraising activities. In 2023, the Medical Center launched the 'The Great Future' major fundraising campaign committee.

The committee is chaired by Sangyeol Kim, Chairman of Seoul Shinmun, and Jaebeom Lee, President of the Yonsei University College of Medicine Alumni Association. Other members include Dongsoo Heo, Chairman of the Board; Younghan Jeon, Chairman of Hanlim Co., Ltd.; Youngdal Yoon, Chairman of Crown Haitai Holdings; Kyungryul Lee, Chairman of SCL Healthcare; and Younghoon Lee, Senior Pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church. The committee brings together leaders from various fields, including business, medicine, and religion, to identify potential donors, promote exemplary donations, recruit donation partners, and offer constructive proposals to stimulate donation activities.

One of the key areas in which Yonsei Medical Center is working to promote a donation culture is legacy giving through donation trusts. A donation trust is a contract entered into between a donor and a trust company for the purpose of making a donation. Upon signing the contract, the donor’s assets are entrusted to the trust company and, after their death, are transferred to the donation organization. Donors can manage the earnings from the trust assets during their lifetime and ensure stable donations even after their passing.

Yonsei Medical Center plans to continue expanding donations through large-scale fundraising campaigns and legacy giving programs.

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