As Year-End Approaches, Donation Temperature Falls Short... The Pace of Donation Growth in Korea

As of the 19th, Nationwide Sharing Temperature at 53.8 Degrees
"High Living Costs Make Donations a Burden"

Due to the ongoing economic downturn and high inflation, the "Love Temperature Tower" has effectively frozen. The temperature of the Love Temperature Tower rises as fundraising progresses, reaching 100 degrees once the target amount is achieved. However, many regions remain at low levels, signaling a warning for reaching the goal.

This Year's Target Is 450 Billion Won... Lukewarm 'Love Temperature Tower'

On the 15th, the temperature of sharing was displayed as 15.9 degrees on the Love Temperature Tower of the Community Chest of Korea installed at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Plaza in Yeongtong District, Suwon City, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Yonhap News

As of the 19th, the nationwide sharing temperature stood at 53.8 degrees, with a total of 241.97 billion won raised. The "Hope 2026 Sharing Campaign," aimed at helping marginalized neighbors during the year-end and New Year season, began on December 1 and will run for 62 days until January 31 next year across all 17 cities and provinces. The fundraising target is 450 billion won, and the symbolic Love Temperature Tower rises by one degree for every 4.5 billion won raised, which is 1% of the target amount.

By region, Seoul raised 13.47 billion won, resulting in a sharing temperature of only 27 degrees, while Gyeonggi Province collected 7.35 billion won, reaching 21.6 degrees. The region with the highest sharing temperature was Daejeon, which raised 2.93 billion won and reached 43.1 degrees. In contrast, Jeju Province recorded the lowest, with only 630 million won raised and a temperature of 14.6 degrees.

The disappointing fundraising performance is attributed to several factors, including increased household financial burdens caused by high inflation and the economic downturn. Kwon Kyungwon (30), an office worker, said, "Even if I want to donate, I am not sure which organizations can be trusted, and with living expenses rising compared to before, it's not easy to open my wallet. It's not easy to donate comfortably."

This sentiment is also reflected in related surveys. According to a poll conducted by the Public Opinion Team of Korea Research on 1,000 adults, 48% said they had donated in the past two years, while 52% said they had not. The most common reason for not donating was "lack of financial resources," cited by 53% of respondents. This was followed by "lack of trust in donation organizations" (29%), "belief that individual donations would not help solve problems" (12%), "not knowing how to donate" (3%), and "inconvenient donation methods" (2%).

Support Your Hometown and Get Tax Benefits... Hometown Love Donations Surpass 100 Billion Won

On the other hand, interest in the Hometown Love Donation Program is rising. This system was introduced to address the crisis of local depopulation; donations are used for projects to improve residents' welfare, and donations up to 100,000 won are fully tax-deductible. In addition, donors can receive local specialty products as gifts, up to 30% of the donation amount.

For example, if you donate 100,000 won, you can receive a full tax deduction and a gift worth up to 30,000 won. The combination of tax benefits and gift incentives appears to have lowered the barrier to participation. As a result, fundraising performance is on the rise. In the first year of the program in 2023, 65.1 billion won was raised; last year, the amount reached 87.9 billion won; and as of December 15 this year, the cumulative total surpassed 100 billion won for the first time.

Meanwhile, some local governments are seeing results with unique gift strategies. Mokpo City in South Jeolla Province offers regional specialties such as fermented skate, seasoned octopus, and samchae mackerel as gifts, achieving a cumulative fundraising total of 2 billion won as of December 17. Goheung County in South Jeolla Province also features a variety of specialties, including citron, Korean beef, dried seaweed, and kelp, as gifts. Goheung County's Hometown Love Donation total rose significantly from 1.23 billion won in 2023 and 931 million won last year to 2 billion won this year.