4. We are in this together
Kakao COVID-19 Report, 2nd Edition
Fundraiser to fight COVID-19: 5,881,054,062 won
(Total amount of donations from Kakao community users)
Disasters like COVID-19 bring greater difficulties to the underprivileged. This is because the underprivileged, who generally face health, economic and psychological challenges, are even more marginalized due to social distancing. The Kakao Community raised various fundraising events on the digital platform to help ease the pain of the marginalized by even a little. Thanks to the active participation of our users, 5,881,054,062 won was raised in total to support vulnerable groups.
# Kakao Together – COVID-19 fundraising projects all in one platform
<Fundraising status on Kakao Together>
No. of registered donation boxes: 126
Total amount of fundraising: 5,392,836,262 won (including the special Kakao donation of 2.5 billion won)
No. of participants: 1,469,746
Kakao Together is Kakao’s social contribution platform that allows everyone to participate.
Anyone can make fundraising proposals for people in need, and donations can be made whenever a user shares an already started donation box or posts a comment on a cause he or she is interested in. It is a social contribution platform that runs on user participation.
Many hands have been extended to all parts of society to those in need of help through donations and fundraising projects on Kakao Together, and COVID-19 was no exception. To date, 126 donation projects linked with the “#COVID-19” hashtag have been entered on Kakao Together.
1,469,746 users have participated in 126 COVID-19-themed fundraising projects, with the total amount reaching 5,392,836,262 won. Out of the total amount, donations made by users and donations made by Kakao whenever someone shares or post comments made up approximately 2,893,000,000 won. A special donation of 2.5 billion won was also made by Kakao.
Over one million people across regions, gender and age showed their love to help their fellow members of society. Once again, Kakao expresses its gratitude to everyone who participated in these fundraising events, and roots for Korea to regain normality soon.
The fundraising page on Kakao Together# Kakao Together – Show that you care with “giveticons”
<Giveticons to overcome COVID-19>
Sale Period: Mar. 2 ~ Mar. 15
No. of giveticons sold: 260,000
Donation Amount: 260 million won
“You can do it.” “Stay healthy.” “Don’t forget your mask.”
An emoticon is a means to express feelings and emotions that are rather hard to articulate in words using images. In KakaoTalk, they are used as frequently as texts. Now, emoticons have become a new tool for expressing meanings that are way bigger than what that image stands for.
Kakao Together provides “giveticons,” which are specific emoticons that contribute to a donation that is made equivalent to the total earnings of the “giveticon” sales. To help people hit hard by COVID-19, 16 emoticon designers sold giveticons on the Kakao Together platform. Approximately 260,000 giveticons were sold between Mar. 2 and Mar. 15, and the final donation reached 260,000,000 won.
The giveticons were well received by users from its release date ranking top at the Emoticon Shop Popularity Chart. The number of giveticons sold surpassed the sales volume of over 1,000 regular selling emoticons. Also, they were recorded as the most sold giveticons since their first launch in 2016. This record shows just how much everyone wants to see the end of COVID-19. COVID-19, we can beat it if we stick together!
Kakao “giveticons”# Kakao Bank X Kakao Together – Food delivery to people in need
<Kakao Bank X Kakao Together Lunchbox Donation>
Donation made to: Community Chest of Korea
Donation amount: 130 million won
No. of box lunches delivered: Over 20,000
The COVID-19 pandemic has put a lot of undue economic and social pressures on the underprivileged. In particular, it has made the lives of the poor even more difficult because day labor jobs have decreased and meal centers have closed.
Kakao Bank donated 130,000,000,000 won to the Gyeonggi branch of the Community Chest of Korea in 2020 to provide food to senior citizens living alone and the disabled and prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The donation was sent to the Gyeonggi Province Social Welfare Association and Gyeonggido Rehabilitation Center Association, and these centers provided over 20,000 box lunches and home meal replacements to senior citizens living alone and the disabled residing in their districts.
Although it is a small contribution, we hope that the short conversations we shared with the elderly and the disabled while delivering the lunch boxes were able to brighten up their hours even by a little bit.
A lunch box delivered by a social welfare center in Gyeonggi Province# Kakao Bank X Kakao Together – Food and masks for senior citizens living alone
<Kakao Bank X Kakao Together Assisting Senior Citizens Living Alone>
Donation amount: 17,317,800 won
Participating social welfare centers: 11 centers
In Dec. 2020, Kakao Bank organized an online fundraising event through Kakao Together, which was titled “Help Put a Bright Smile on Senior Citizens Living Alone.”
As part of the event, Kakao Bank donated a total of 17,317,800 won on behalf of 16,558 people (1,000 won per person) who left supportive messages through “Kakao Bank mini,” a financial service for the youth, and 3,818 users who supported, shared the event, and left comments on the Kakao Together platform.
With the donation, we posted to recruit 11 social welfare centers to help us send gifts to senior citizens living in solitude. To our surprise, 209 out of 447 social welfare centers applied from around the country. Kakao Bank worked with working level staff and outside experts to select 11 social welfare centers. Each center selected 30 senior citizens and provided them with food and winter goods.
Online banner of the Kakao Bank donation event
Thank-you memos handwritten by the elderly# Kakao Bank – Continued assistance to the underprivileged
<Kakao Bank Assisting the Underprivileged>
Coal briquette donation to those in need: 20 million won
IT device support for low-income households: 100,000,000 won
Meal box support for low-income households: 18,000,000 won
Kakao Bank has continue to try to get closer to the poor and vulnerable in 2021.
As coal briquette donation has decreased drastically due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, low-income households faced a cold and uneasy winter. Kakao Bank donated 20 million won to the Babsang Community Welfare Foundation in Nov. 2021 and also participated in coal briquette donation and volunteer activities in partnership with financial institutions such as the Financial Supervisory Service and the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency.
As the need for remote education increased in Dec. 2021, Kakao Bank provided laptop computers, tablet PCs, smartphones, and more to the digitally disadvantaged (low-income groups, the disabled and so on), mainly those that face difficulty purchasing electronic devices. For this cause, Kakao Bank donated a total of of 100,000,000 won to Save the Children Korea.
Furthermore, as public child care facilities shut down and transitioned to online education, children of low-income families, who used to receive free lunch at schools or at child care, had to find ways to eat at home. To help them, Kakao Bank donated 18,000,000 won to ChildFund Korea to provide meal boxes to children of low-income families as recommended by social welfare centers in Sungnam and Gyeonggi-do.
# Kakao Commerce – Inviting users to join a good cause
<Kakao Commerce Donation Activities>
Direct donation by Kakao Commerce: 120,000 hand sanitizers worth 500 million won
No. of participants in the donation event: 19,221
No. of donated goods: 590,595
As the COVID-19 pandemic quickly spread and disrupted our lives, there was a fear that we could be exposed to the virus at any time. People started panic buying masks and hand sanitizers as preventive measures, and before long, finding antibacterial supplies became very difficult.
Kakao Commerce donated hand sanitizers worth 500,000,000 won to those going through a difficult time due to COVID-19, and organized an online event inviting customers of KakaoTalk Gift to join the donation drive.
The sellers on KakaoTalk Gift lowered the price of seven hygiene products and daily necessities to join the good cause, and an event page was designed so that customers of KakaoTalk Gift could be encouraged to buy these products to donate to the Korea Disaster Relief Association.
Though the collaboration of users and Kakao Commerce, 120,000 hand sanitizers worth 500 million won were donated by Kakao Commerce and 59,595 donation goods from 19,221 users were provided to those in need through the Korea Disaster Relief Association. We sincerely thank all users who participated in this event.
Emergency relief goods donated through the event# Ground X – Sending love beyond borders through blockchain
<Ground X Blockchain Donation Size>
KLAY donation: 83,000 KLAY
Donation amount converted to won: 62 million won
No. of Zambian children helped: 12,000
The whole world is suffering from COVID-19. While it has hit developing countries with inadequate economic resources the hardest, it is difficult to even estimate the extent of the damage.
The Social support to overcome the damage of the pandemic has moved beyond borders. Ground X, Kakao's blockchain subsidiary, organized the Good Water Project to prevent COVID-19 in partnership with Good Neighbors International, an international humanitarian development NGO.
Ground X organized a donation event for ‘KLAY,’ the main digital asset wallet service ‘Klip.’ For about 50 days, 1,879 participants participated in the event, with the youngest donor being 19 years old and the oldest being 89 years old, and approximately 83,000 KLAY (worth 62,000,000 won), with KLAY price at 747 won, was raised.
Through this event, clean water and face masks were provided to 12,000 Zambian children.
The Good Water Project hosted by Ground X and Good Neighbors InternationalAdditional Reference: What we can do in a world halted by COVID-19
Kakao’s commitment and responsibility to make the world a better place. At the forefront to unprecedented changes brought about by the pandemic, Kakao posed a question “What should we do?” and then tried its best to make meaningful changes in its own ways. This is a story of people at Kakao who have worked round the clock doing their jobs to help other people have a safe tomorrow.
2022 Kakao COVID-19 Report, 2nd Edition
Part 1: Standing up to COVID-19
Part 2: Connecting via Kakao
Part 3: Helping small businesses
Part 4: We are in this together
Part 5: Life goes on
Part 6: Kakao is always nearby
Part 7: For our Krew’s safety
2020 COVID-19 Report, 1st Edition click here
Kakao Corporation owns the publication rights to the Kakao COVID-19 Report, and prohibits the use of the Kakao COVID-19 Report for commercial purposes. The Kakao COVID-19 Report must be mentioned as the source, even when the data is used or cited within circumstances specified by copyright law.
Click below to download PDF version of the Kakao COVID-19 Report.