[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] KakaoBank announced on the 6th that about 50,000 teenagers participated in the 'First Donation Support Campaign' targeting the 'Mini' segment of teenage customers in December, raising a total donation amount of approximately 50 million KRW over 10 days.
KakaoBank’s ‘First Donation Support Campaign’ was an event for Mini customers, a service targeting teenagers aged 14 to 18, where participants chose one cause among 'Helping Abandoned Animals,' 'Environmental Protection,' and 'Helping the Elderly' to support. For each support given, KakaoBank donated 1,000 KRW. Among the donation causes selected considering teenagers’ interests, ‘Helping the Elderly’ received the most support with about 17,000 teenagers participating.
The total donation amount of approximately 50 million KRW, matched by KakaoBank at 1,000 KRW per support, was delivered to respective organizations according to the purpose: animal rescue support groups, environmental organizations, and social welfare center associations. The donation details and stories, conducted until the end of March this year, were posted in detail on the KakaoBank blog for public viewing.
The funds for ‘Helping the Elderly’ were delivered to the 'Korea Social Welfare Center Association' and provided as food and daily necessities to about 330 elderly people struggling to secure meals due to COVID-19. The donation for abandoned animal rescue was used through the animal protection organization 'Kara' for repairing old rescue equipment and purchasing new medical devices. The environmental protection donation was used to operate the 'Plastic Zero' campaign by the 'Korean Federation for Environmental Movements.'
Despite no prizes being offered for participating in the donation support, the participation of about 50,000 teenagers in a short period is attributed to the characteristics of the digital native 'MZ generation,' who skillfully communicate via social networking services (SNS) using smartphones, certify their 'good deeds,' and encourage acquaintances to join.
The term 'Donzzul,' meaning 'punishing with money,' is also actively driven by the MZ generation. They help socially vulnerable or minority groups, actively purchase goods from stores praised for good deeds, or donate money without purchasing. They also actively post SNS posts with hashtags of the stores they financially supported by taking photos of receipts.
Recent donation trends align with this context. According to the '2021 Donation Trends' report analyzing donation and fundraising flows released by the Community Chest of Korea in February, the MZ generation showed the highest increase rate in donation amounts recently. Compared to the previous year, donations by people in their 20s increased by 23.8%, and those in their 30s increased by 19.9%. In contrast, donors in their 40s, who have been the core of domestic donations, increased by only 11.9%.
A KakaoBank official said, "It seems that Mini customers, the Z generation who value transparency by directly reviewing donation destinations and the entire donation process, actively participated," adding, "We plan to expand sharing activities with teenage customers in the future."
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