In 2021, as it celebrated its 20th anniversary, Daum Foundation set out a new mission, “Creating a [          ] future for the nonprofit ecosystem,” and has since dedicated itself to building and strengthening the nonprofit ecosystem.

In particular, the Foundation has championed the concept of “nonprofit startups,” creating opportunities for new actors to emerge and grow while concentrating its efforts on discovering and incubating them. To date, the Foundation has discovered and incubated 51 nonprofit startups, with 53% of them going on to establish formal organizations and more than 72% continuing their activities after completing the incubation program. The Foundation has also worked with a diverse range of partners, including incubated nonprofit startups, corporations, and community-based organizations to develop and implement new initiatives addressing social challenges; initiatives ranging from projects that challenge established beauty standards and broaden perspectives on beauty among children and teenagers, to those that diversify corporate employee volunteering and support children with borderline intellectual functioning and their families—a group that had previously fallen through the cracks of existing welfare and support systems.

Alongside discovering and incubating early-stage organizations, the Foundation has also worked on building a strong foundation for existing nonprofit organizations and activists to sustain their activities. Since 2008, the ChangeON Conference has brought together 5,890 nonprofit activists to share new perspectives and insights on a changing society and technological landscape. D.MZ, launched to connect social sector activists in their 20s and 30s, has engaged with 704 young activists to date, establishing itself as a leading community for peers to build connections while sharing their experiences and challenges. The Foundation has also established a fund for the human rights movement, a field with relatively limited support systems and infrastructure within the nonprofit sector, supporting a total of 60 human rights activities and projects across the country; in addition to operating Dongnakga as a dedicated space for nonprofit activists for five years, presenting a new model for space-based support in the nonprofit sector. Last but not least, the Foundation has put in effort to create a sustainable environment for nonprofit activities by developing an impact capacity assessment framework and an online self-assessment service for nonprofit startups, establishing a back-office support system covering legal and accounting services, and building a collaborative network for nonprofit startup incubators.

As we mark our 25th anniversary, we have spent the past several months preparing for the next five years, drawing on the achievements and experiences of the last five. We examined the various changes taking place in our society, reflecting on the experience and strengths the Foundation has gained and refined over the years, and discussed together the new role Daum Foundation should take on going forward. Through this process, we identified two new keywords: “youth” and “social solidarity economy organizations and local communities,” while also reaching a shared commitment to strengthen and further develop the work the Foundation has been carrying out.

Daum Foundation aims to create pathways for more young people to discover the nonprofit sector as a place they can build a career and pursue work they care about, moving forward. At the same time, it seeks to build an environment where young activists already working in the sector can continue to grow and sustain their work over the long term. Regional extinction and the widening gap between regions are also critical challenges our society faces. Amid population decline and the concentration of resources in the greater Seoul area, the role of actors who respond to diverse social issues specific to regions and create the social services needed in those regions is becoming increasingly important. Daum Foundation recognizes the potential of nonprofits to build stronger communities by bringing together local residents and other diverse actors to participate in and collaborate on developing local solutions for local problems. Particularly, we anticipate that social solidarity economy organizations, centered around social cooperatives, will grow into new problem-solving actors by connecting local communities with government entities and other stakeholders.

With this expansion into new areas, we intend to strengthen and develop the work Daum Foundation has done well thus far. Utilizing the experience and expertise accumulated through discovering and incubating nonprofit startups in the last five years, we will continue to help new organizations tackling social challenges grow, while expanding opportunities for learning, exchange, and collaboration to help existing nonprofit organizations and activists adapt to evolving circumstances and continue their work in a sustainable manner. We also plan on strengthening our role in building the foundations nonprofits need to operate more stably, including through legal and institutional reform and research.

Building on this direction, Daum Foundation intends to dedicate the next five years to shaping a more diverse and sustainable nonprofit ecosystem.