Come Christmas season, charity pots and kettles are pulled out to remind people that the holidays are a time of giving, even to someone they don’t know.

But for 31-year-old office worker Song Jung-yup, donating is not just a year-end event, it’s something that can be done throughout the year.

“When you say donation, people tend to think it should be something massive. But I think anyone can help out depending on their financial status,” said Song, who has been making a 5,000 won ($4.20) monthly donation to children living in makeshift homes since his college days in 2009.


Once associated mainly with deep-pocketed big names, donating in Korea is evolving into a culture that all citizens can participate in.

Some allocate part of their income to a cause via organizations such as UNICEF, Community Chest of Korea or Good Neighbors.

“When I first came to Seoul, I saw the village of makeshift homes in Gangnam Province right next to the luxurious apartments. It was such a shock that I was prompted to help out,” said Song, who made his contributions via a volunteer group called Peace Camp.

What individual citizens lack in personal wealth, they make up in numbers.

As of last week, donations made by individuals to World Vision Korea for this year stood at around 159.2 billion won ($132.4 million), while donations made by corporates reached about 16.9 billion won.

According to the CCK, about 34.5 percent of the 471.4 billion won donation made last year was by individuals.

One of the distinct advantages of small-scale donations by the public is that it is less inclined to be affected by outside factors, such as a recession or a nationwide scandal.

A recent survey by the International Council for Nonprofit Managements showed that 70 percent of the respondents thought that the recent corruption scandal surrounding President Park Geun-hye and her confidante Choi Soon-sil had a negative impact on donations.

“While we cannot definitively comment on the matter, the ongoing situation --- the economic slump -- is seen to be affecting the amount of overall donations,” said an official from the CCK.

But while individuals’ donation to World Vision Korea took a relatively smaller hit -- about 3.6 percent compared to last year -- companies’ donations was logged at about 19.1 percent of last year.

Accessibility is another factor that encourages people to participate, which owes its debt to technological advances. Many cases of donating in the digital age occur via smartphone apps, mobile crowdfunding and digital payments.

The century-old Red Kettle of Salvation Army is recognized around the world as a symbol of charity, but people can now chip in digitally via a mobile application provided by Salvation Army Korea.

Sometimes a financial transaction is not even required, as mobile apps like Big Walk allows users to convert their walks into funding. A 10 meter walk is translated into one Korean won; minuscule in one, massive in many.

For those with a particular set of skills, even their talent can be an object of sharing.

Around 2010, the word “talent donation” rose to popularity, subsequently growing into a fad adopted now by companies and individual citizens alike.

While celebrities with big paychecks often make headlines with sizeable donations, their fan base can sometimes serve as a rallying point for raising funds for a cause.

Fans of the actress Moon Geun-young donated 7 million won for the underprivileged in Malawi via Good Neighbors, which they raised after Moon did voluntary work in the African country.

In June, the media reported that Lee Min-ho’s fans donated 11.8 million won to Holt Children’s Services to celebrate his birthday.

Despite the increasing number of citizens sharing, reports indicate that donation among Koreans is still relatively low.

A report released earlier this year by the Hyundai Research Institute shows that only 34.5 percent of Koreans donate, which was 25th among the 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The report, however, did show that the amount of accumulated donation as of 2013 marked a consistent increase from 8.1 trillion won in 2006 to 10.3 trillion won.

A study has hinted that in addition to helping others, donating may actually help the benefactor’s well-being, namely via the “warm fuzzy feeling” attested to by people who have pitched in for those less fortunate than themselves.

According to a 2014 paper by the US-based National Bureau of Economic Research, emotional benefits of those who donated large sums outweighed the emotional costs, which the researchers said indicated that donation opportunities boost their well-being.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)