Donation Culture
Donations and Volunteer Work
Many Kang Daniel fans showcase their dedication towards him through a remarkable way: philanthropy through volunteer work and donations under his name. This spirit of social awareness is inspired by Kang Daniel himself. During Produce 101 Season 2, Daniel was spotted wearing various products from Marymond, a social enterprise that helps comfort women and their grandchildren, thus earning him “the thoughtful trainee” title. Following Kang Daniel’s effort to raise awareness on this issue, DieuDaniel (Daum fancafe) made a joint purchase of 600 Marimond Girl Award badges totaling 3.66 million won.
Other examples of these fans’ donations are the following: 8.2 million won donated to the “Good Neighbors Campaign for Abused Children” by Danielcom (Naver fancafe) to help abused children in commemoration of Children’s Day in Korea, DieuDaniel donating quilts and various other products from The Spring Home (a brand that Daniel endorsed) for the fancafe’s first anniversary, and a donation through the Exciting Dish Fanshop website to an organization in Gwangju, Gyeonggi, Korea that assists women who were forced into sexual slavery during war. In 2017’s Give Love donation event, fans contributed the most money to UNICEF (16,444,000 won) for a chance to win Daniel’s hat.[s]
But one of the biggest fan donation events was, without a doubt, done during Daniel’s 21st birthday on December 2017. When Daniel mentioned he wanted fans to help build a clean source of water in Africa as his birthday present, fans did just that. KangDanielDaily, his biggest international fansite, raised and donated a total of $1,000 through The Water Project to help build a dam that would provide clean water for the 500 residents of the “Kathama Community” in Kenya, Africa.[s] Danielcom donated approximately $7,000 through Good Neighbors – Water For Life to build a source of clean water for 1600 students from the Matava School in Rwanda, Africa, which was finalized on May 30, 2018.[s] Meanwhile, RiceWithPeach helped build the “DaniWell” in Cambodia through World Share. The birthday event didn’t stop there though. Multiple fansites and individuals from South Korea and other countries participated in social projects dedicated to child cancer patients, comfort women victims, elderly support, low income households, cat and dog shelters, wildlife animals, UNICEF, Save the Children, and the Pohang earthquake victims, among many others.[s]
“Stay strong and get well, God Daniel”
Members of Kang Daniel’s Daum fancafe DieuDaniel teamed up with theater play production “옥탑방고양이 (Rooftop Cat)” to donate 500kg of cat food and perform volunteer activities at an organic animal shelter in Namyangju, Gyeonggi-do.
DieuDaniel said, “To celebrate Daniel’s 22nd birthday, we are collaborating with the ‘Rooftop Cat’ team to support abandoned cats. We felt that this was a particularly meaningful gift due to Daniel’s special love for cats, so we are very happy.”[s]
All these fan efforts not only warm hearts but also promote a healthy and mature fan culture in which idol and fans lead by example. On June 12, 2018, Kang Daniel shared on the Wanna One Instagram account a video of him participating in the Ice Bucket Challenge and donating 2 million won through the Seungil Hope Foundation after being challenged by EXO’s Chanyeol. The Seungil Hope Foundation hopes to build the first hospital in South Korea specializing in treatment and rehabilitation for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. This noble action immediately prompted fans all over the world to also donate and spread awareness with the hashtag #아이스버킷챌린지_강다니엘, causing the foundation’s website to crash momentarily due to the overwhelming number of visits. Jinusean’s Sean, who is a director of Korea’s Seungil Hope Foundation, wrote hours later on his Instagram account to thank Daniel and his fans, “I think now I know why people always say ‘Kang Daniel, Kang Daniel!’ I will look forward to seeing you as a great singer and celebrity with good influence. I will pray for you, Daniel. Thank you.”[s] Among the many fans that joined in to help with this cause, DieuDaniel donated the same amount Daniel donated, a total of 2 million won.[s] Meanwhile, WingDanik announced they would gift Sagittarius bracelets from withice.or.kr to anyone donating through their exhibition in Seoul next July, encouraging fans to “follow Daniel’s pretty heart.”
On June 13, the Chinese ALS organization Oriental Rain ALS Care (ORACC) posted a message through their official Weibo to thank Kang Daniel and his fans for the many donations they received. They commented, “Kang Daniel posted the 2018 Ice Bucket Challenge video and his donation certificate on Wanna One’s official Instagram, so not only Korean fans but also domestic (Chinese) fans contributed. We think this is the power of a star’s positive influence. Thank you Kang Daniel and his fans. Thank you for your help to the ALS patients. Love is on the road and will never be stopped.”[s] As of June 29, it was revealed by the Seungil Hope Foundation website that from 10,000 donations they received from May 29 to June 28 (amount exceeding 9 billion won), the reports show that over 1,000 donations were affiliated with Kang Daniel.
From June to August 2018, Kang Daniel fans also celebrated his 1-year anniversary since Daniel won Produce 101 Season 2 on June 16 and his debut with Wanna One on August 7. These dates were no exception for fans to show their warm hearts with more good deeds in his honor. Daniel’s Naver fancafe Danielcom donated a total of 120 electric fans from Bokuk (another brand that Daniel endorses) to Yeongdo-gu Seniors Welfare Center. Busan’s Yeongdo-gu is the neighborhood where Kang Daniel was born and raised before his debut. Danielcom commented, “We hope this kind gentle breeze of Kang Daniel can help the seniors overcome the hot summer weather.”[s] [s] LunarPlanet, one of Daniel’s biggest fansites, made a donation to the Korean Association for Children with Leukemia and Cancer.[s] Other individual fans made healthy donations to the Korean Animal Rights Advocates (KARA),[s] [s] while fansites CODE and RiceWithPeach came together to donate food and volunteer at a dog facility. CODE posted, “To commemorate the first anniversary of his debut, we wanted to return the happiness he has given to us; therefore, we have decided to donate supplies to an animal shelter in the suburbs and volunteer for the day. We were happy to spend the first year anniversary of his debut in a meaningful way, and we will always cheer for Daniel’s bright future ahead.”[s]
In 2019, DANITY spread their good influence in celebration of Daniel’s solo debut through many forms of donation. Hong Kong-based fansite @1210miracle_ donated 1,210,725 won to the Korea Childhood Leukemia Foundation.[s] Kang Daniel Gallery donated 10,000 albums to blood donation sites in Busan. An official from the institution stated, “In summer, there’s always a shortage of blood supply. We would like to thank Kang Daniel’s fans for giving us warm love at this time. I hope the mature fandom culture will continue even in the future.” There was an increase in blood donors to 615 on average in July from 455 per day between April 1-July 7. That increase was attributed to the donations.[s] [s] For Daniel’s 100th day of solo debut, DANITY donated 9,612,100 won and supplied 128 blood donations to the Korea Leukemia Children’s Foundation in Daniel’s name.[s] Many other individual fans made donations and posted under the #100DaysWithKangDaniel hashtag.
DANITY also showed huge support for Daniel’s first domestic fanmeeting and exhibition at KINTEX, Ilsan on November 22–24, 2019. As KONNECT only permitted support wreaths that could be donated, fans from all over the world contributed with rice bags, briquettes, animal food, and more.[s] [s] A High Cut editor that was there at the fanmeeting shared on her Instagram, “The Danibong design and name are lovely. In particular, DANITY’s devotion and love through charity wreaths and quality fan culture moved me.”[s] [s] A total of 970 kg rice donations ordered through nanumluv was delivered to Save the Children Protection Agency in Seoul Mapo, Bucheon, Incheon, and Ansan.[s] INTERNATIONAL DANITY organized by OurDaniel.com donated 300 kg of rice in Daniel’s name for his Color on Seoul fanmeeting.
Daniel’s birthday continued to be a large philanthropic celebration for fans. Daniel himself has been donating on his birthday since 2018 and regularly for other occasions. In response to Daniel’s philanthropy, DANITY have contributed to the same organizations he contributed to, including Hope Bridge Disaster Relief and The Snail of Love. During Daniel’s legal dispute in 2019, he broke his silence for the first time in a while by donating to Hope Bridge to support Gangwon Wildfire relief efforts. Individual fans donated of their own accord without any instruction or organization, and the media revealed Daniel’s fans contributed the most of all fandoms. It was reported in May 2019 that Daniel and his fans donated 180 million won to support wildlife relief. The media commended DANITY for leading fan donation culture.[s] Gmarket ran a Give Love donation campaign in December 2019 to January 2020. Daniel provided his autographed album and shoes as part of the giveaway. As of January 5, DANITY donated nearly 24 million won. Proceeds will be used to help African girls receive education through Save the Children Korea.[s] [s]
In 2020, after Daniel donated to Hope Bridge for COVID-19, DANITY contributed more than 70 million won.[s] In April 2020, Daniel and DANITY were the first person and fandom to be awarded The Snail of Love’s Soul-The Fan No.1 title by surpassing 99 million won in donations.[s] In June 2020, The Snail of Love named Daniel and DANITY as the most memorable sponsors in recent years. Staff said, “They donated in the name of the artist, and they looked even more radiant when pure hearts loving their singer and beautiful hearts doing good things met.”[s] [s]
Daniel and DANITY’s donation culture has been mentioned in Korea’s 3rd sector 10 keywords of 2020 under “fandom philanthropy”. While fans have been contributing to charity to support stars for quite some time, in recent years the amount of donations increased significantly to the extent of matching a small non-profit foundation’s annual funding. DANITY was named as an example. Their reported donations have amounted to 665.76 million won in 3 years as of March 2020.[s]
DANITY continue to contribute to many causes. More donations can be viewed by backtracking the support team or OurDaniel’s accounts and the #PositiveMakesPositives hashtag.[s] [s]
In 2021, DANITY continued to contribute to good causes. In May, Danity Indonesia donated 30 t-shirts and 70 puzzles to a childcare center and spent time with the children.[s] [s] Team Avengers received a plaque of appreciation from the mayor of Yeongdo, Busan in recognition of their steady donation practice since 2019.[s] [s]
Positive Makes Positives
Ever since 2018 DANITY have arranged a global online event through the Twitter account kd_positive to celebrate his birthday. DANITY tag good contributions they have done with the hashtag #PositiveMakesPositives, which is Daniel’s reply to a post on May 5, 2018 in the fancafe during Children’s Day. Fans use this hashtag for good deeds made throughout the year, and it is not limited to special occasions.
Staff of OurDaniel.com have previously joined in the spirit of giving back with the #PositiveMakesPositives hashtag. To celebrate Daniel’s 23rd birthday in 2018, our staff donated to The ALS Association and UNICEF USA. One of our admins also donated and volunteered at her local animal shelter, spending a day playing with Daniel’s best furry friends.[s] More recently, our staff donated towards The MINDS Foundation, which helps people in need access mental health services in India, and Animales Sin Hogar (Animals Without Home), one of Uruguay’s biggest NGO and currently takes care of more than 2000 animals. Both donations were in celebration of Daniel’s 24th birthday on December 10, 2019.[s]
For Daniel’s 1-year debut anniversary, fans aimed to donate rice through the UN World Food Progamme x Freerice.[s] By playing this game, fans generate the money that pays for this rice. 100% of all funds generated on Freerice go to the World Food Programme, and 93.5% of every payment received by the World Food Programme goes directly towards helping children and their families. As of July 2020, DANITY have collected more than 19 million grains of rice and peaked at 2nd place in the groups’ global leaderboard (1st place is BTS ARMY).
Fan-Voted Charity Angel and Fairy
The CHOEAEDOL app holds daily polls the whole year with a voting system of accumulating points. The person and group that are ranked first in the cumulative rank win the Charity Angel category, those who have the highest monthly number of votes win the Charity Fairy Category. For the winners of each category, CHOEAEDOL donates 500 thousand won under their names and gives them a certificate. Kang Daniel’s strong fan effort helped him win Charity Angel for 17 consecutive months and Charity Fairy for 18 consecutive months. This further shows that Daniel’s popularity and his fans’ dedication cannot be underestimated. When Daniel was reintroduced into the app following his solo debut, DANITY won the August 2019 poll. Daniel regularly wins the Charity Angel and Fairy titles ever since. As of November 2021, more than 46 million won has been donated in Kang Daniel’s name to the Miral Welfare Foundation for children with disabilities. In December 2022, donations reached 51 million won.[s] [s]
Local & International Projects
Support Billboards
One of the most prominent traditions among K-pop fans is to have advertisements for their favorite idol on subways, buses, and important intersections, one of them being New York City’s Times Square. Unarguably one of the most important intersections in the world, Times Square is considered the cream of the crop for advertisement location choices. Normally, only established K-pop idols with sizable fandoms will have their advertisements at Times Square. These ads are usually done by Chinese fans, as they are extremely expensive.[s] But despite being a rookie with only 4 months into his debut, Kang Daniel had his first Times Square advertisement at Thomson Reuters during his birthday on December 10, 2017. It played throughout a whole week, and it was the result of fundraising from his Korean fans. The cost of the ad (around $30,000) and the fact that it was done by Korean fans were so rare that the event was covered by the Korean media several times.[s] It even prompted the US Embassy in Seoul to post a Tweet about it, showing that his impact was also felt by political authorities.[s]
During the first half of 2018, a mobile app called STARPASS started implementing a Times Square ad that would play every Friday of a month as a prize for the idol who won the most votes through the app. The same idol could be eligible for the voting every two months. Kang Daniel won this ad several times from 2018 (June, August, October, and December) to 2019 (February, April, June). All the ads were designed by his fans. In November 2019, Daniel won the Birthday Times Square ad from mobile app STARPLAY.
Among his biggest support events was the video played on Global Harbor Twin Tower in Shanghai. Organized by one of his biggest Chinese fandoms WannaDaniel China, the video-message “Happy Daniel Day” played at night on the buildings, creating fantastical images of Daniel in massive scale that could be seen from far away. The event was possible thanks to the funding of many Chinese fans to celebrate Daniel’s 23rd birthday on December 10, 2018. [Click to watch the amazing video]
More commonly, fans regularly put up ads all throughout subway stations in Korea to show their support. During Produce 101 and Wanna One’s 1-year anniversary, Daniel went to see fans’ subway ads in person.[s] During Daniel’s forced hiatus, Peachbomb placed a subway ad at Samsung Station from April 15 to May 14, 2019.[s] Fans naturally put up support messages while responsibly monitoring and cleaning up the area. More than 200 post-it messages were left by fans.[s] Due to the overwhelming support, Peachbomb took the initiative to send Daniel the messages. All the post-its were compiled in 3 binders and delivered to Daniel at his fansign. At his August 1 fansign, Daniel revealed he saw the subway ad in real life but nobody noticed him.
Daniel Forest and Cafes
In May 2019, fans made a small forest garden within Seoul called “Daniel Forest” where fans can sit around, share stories, and rest whenever they miss Kang Daniel or want to cheer him on. This is a space set up on the outer terrace of café Picky Papa. StoryBlossom, a known Naver blogger among DANITY, was the first one to come up with the idea when Daniel was in the midst of a legal dispute. The garden serves as a place to heal not only for fans but anyone who visits. Each tree and flower have been planted by fans, and the fans voluntarily take care of the forest. The project initially started with ten fans voluntarily managing the plants, but the participants gradually grew in scale. As a space filled with photos of Kang Daniel, cards with encouraging messages, and fan pics, the forest offers the enjoyment of seeing how the decorations change with every visit. [s] [s]
Besides the long-term Daniel Forest located in Seoul, DANITY around the world often times organize cafe fan gatherings or vote in polls that award the winner with cafe events. One example of a DANITY project is the Kang Cafe in the Philippines.[s] Daniel once visited a cafe event organized by O_DanielDay1210 in June 2018. There iwas also a cafe dedicated to Daniel called CAFE ;D, that opened in 2019 and closed in 2021.[s]
Hangul Day
In September 2019, KONNECT posted a message from Daniel about Hangul Day.[s] In response to this, KDANIEL_SUPPORT started a DANITY challenge in celebration of Hangul Day on October 9, 2019. The challenge involved writing any part of Daniel’s debut album’s lyrics in Korean and using the hashtags #아름다운_한글 (Beautiful Hangul), #아름다운_강다니엘 (Beautiful Kang Daniel), and #한글날 (Hangul Day). DANITY following Daniel’s footsteps was reported on MBC, KBS, and SBS morning news. This voluntary activity was reported as a positive example of fan activity through SNS and showed how far K-pop’s globalization had come.[s] [s]
In 2020, OurDaniel and KangDaniel_com collaborated with SUPPORT to celebrate the event with the hashtags #HangulDayWithDanielK and #다니엘과_함께하는_한글날. For this occasion, we proposed DANITY to create paper planes and decorate them with Daniel’s lyrics in Korean and whatever else they wanted. The fanbases would then select three lucky fans that would get free goodies. The result was a Twitter timeline filled with beautiful and creative paper planes.
Supporting Businesses
Food and Beverage
Daniel had his first V LIVE as a soloist in February 2019. The meal he ate live was from a local restaurant called Sonoya (소노야) and had pickled radish, tonkatsu, and soba with soup. Since then the restaurant became a fan hot spot. Due to huge demand for what Daniel had eaten, an official set called KD set (KD세트) was added to the menu and affordably priced under 10,000 won. During Daniel’s hiatus due to his legal dispute, the owner permitted messages to Daniel and displayed photos out of gratitude.[s]
Book Publishing
The first episode of Daniel’s solo travel show Hello, Daniel aired on March 4, 2020. Daniel briefly showed the travel guide If You Want to Live in Portland, explaining he used it to plan out his trip. Fans ordered the guidebook en masse and surprised its makers the next morning.
Publishing company Mojosa Publishing thanked Daniel and fans for the increased sales.[s][s]
What just happened overnight?
Checking the book orders this morning, we found that huge amounts of this book were ordered from all the bookstores.
We looked it up and it’s because of the variety program Hello, Daniel on SBS FiL.
The book Kang Daniel brought to Portland is oursㅎㅎㅎ
During these difficult times, we are so thankful to Kang Daniel ^^
Author Lee Young Rae @yr.aichele must feel that her hard work writing this book about Portland has paid off.
The author posted as well.[s]
Something great happened overnight. Kang Daniel showed my 4-year-old book on his new SBS travel variety and to my surprise, orders started coming in to the publishing company this morning❤️ (These days have been difficult financially so this is amazing!! @mojosa7)
These days, due to the difficult situation in Korea, I’ve been worried about my family and friends, so I hope the Portland travels in Hello, Daniel are refreshing to watch for those who are not able to go out freely.
I will watch the broadcast soon 🙏🏻
After huge bookstore orders and reprint requests, it was reported a few months later in June that the book publisher signed a contract with a famous Thai publisher. They thanked Kang Daniel fans again.[s]
DANITY Tour
Ever since 2017 and especially after the airing of Wanna One Go: Zero Base, where Daniel was filmed visiting several places in Busan with his mother and former school teacher, fans have frequently been embarking on Busan pilgrimages and visiting places Daniel went to or recommended in his hometown, creating their own tour and naming it the Niel Tour.[s]
Ever since 2017 and especially after the airing of Wanna One Go: Zero Base, where Daniel was filmed visiting several places in Busan with his mother and former school teacher, fans have frequently been embarking on Busan pilgrimages and visiting places Daniel went to or recommended in his hometown, creating their own tour and naming it the Niel Tour.[s]
In October 2019, the Seoul Tourism Organization launched a tour course on their website Visit Seoul with sites related to Daniel to visit. The DANITY Tour features four different stops in Seoul picked based on his activities, places he has been, and locations DANITY treasure.[s]
Daniel’s first solo travel reality show titled Hello, Daniel was filmed in Portland, Oregon during February 2020. kangdaniel_com compiled some of the places he went to.[s]
Of course, a DANITY tour cannot be complete without dropping by Cafe de KONNECT, located on the first floor of KONNECT Entertainment’s building.