01
Mental Health & Wellbeing
Support for accessible mental health care, counselling, crisis support and prevention, particularly for people facing discrimination, isolation, violence, instability, or other barriers to care.
the kkumi contribution
We contribute 10% of our profits back.
Kkumi exists because of K-pop and the culture and communities around it. As an Australian business built around Korean popular culture, we believe part of that success should contribute back to the people and communities connected to it.
Each year, Kkumi contributes 10% of annual profits to a mix of organisations that support people across Asia, with a strong focus on South Korea.
Our highest priority is mental health and wellbeing, particularly for young people and people working in the entertainment industry. We also support work addressing LGBTQIA+ inequality, violence against women and girls, poverty and housing insecurity, and other vulnerable peoples.
Each profitable year
See who we supportwhy the kkumi contribution exists
A Note from Jay
Kkumi is built around a love of K-pop. It's also a business shaped by a culture that isn't my own. I believe that comes with a responsibility to give back thoughtfully.
My background is in psychology, so access to mental health care matters to me, particularly how gaps in that care disproportionately affect people who are already vulnerable. A major reason for starting the Kkumi Contribution was concern for idols and young artists: the pressure to perform, intense public scrutiny, and the uncertainty of building a career in entertainment. We want to support organisations that help young artists get mental health care, including those without agency support. We also more broadly want to help young people, LGBTQIA+ people, women experiencing violence, and people without stable housing, whose access to care can be limited by discrimination, unsafe circumstances, or cost.
K-pop is easy to experience as only music, albums, photocards, and performances, but there are real people behind all of it. Idols, trainees, dancers, production staff, and other workers are exposed to enormous pressure, unequal power relationships, exploitation, and poor mental health support.
Why we prioritise South Korea
Kkumi grew from our love of K-pop, so we prioritise organisations supporting people in South Korea.
When two organisations are similarly strong, we generally prioritise the one based in, led from, or directly serving South Korea. We may also support organisations elsewhere in East, Southeast, and South Asia where their impact, integrity, need, or alignment with our priorities makes a compelling case.
We don't claim to speak for Korea or that we can solve these problems ourselves. Our commitment is simply that if Kkumi succeeds, we want to share that success with organisations supporting people who need it.
How it's funded
The Kkumi Contribution is funded from annual profits, after the cost of running and sustaining the business. It isn't tied to individual purchases or described as a "portion of proceeds".
the commitment
10% of annual profits
Every profitable year, 10% of Kkumi's annual pre-contribution profit is allocated to the Kkumi Contribution.
For this purpose, profit is calculated after the ordinary costs of operating Kkumi, including the cost of products, fulfilment, shipping costs borne by Kkumi, payment fees, advertising, business overhead, employee costs where applicable and other legitimate operating expenses.
The Contribution is calculated before the Contribution itself and before the owner's personal income tax.
If there's no profit
If Kkumi records no profit for the year, no new percentage-based Contribution is created.
If the business is profitable but paying the Contribution immediately would prevent Kkumi from meeting essential liabilities, replenishing normal inventory or maintaining the required operating reserve, the amount is still recorded as owing and is paid once those requirements can safely be met.
This prevents short-term cash flow from erasing the commitment.
10%
of Kkumi's annual profits
Calculated after operating costs · before tax
what we support
our priorities
We focus on organisations working in areas where need, discrimination and economic vulnerability often overlap.
02
Entertainment Industry Welfare
Support for idols, trainees, young artists, and other entertainment workers facing excessive pressure, exploitation, unsafe working conditions, abuse, or inadequate mental health support.
03
Equality, Safety & Rights
Support for women and girls, LGBTQIA+ people, and others facing discrimination, violence, abuse or exploitation, including work advancing safety, autonomy, legal equality, and access to support.
04
Young People & Economic Security
Support for children and young people affected by poverty, family rejection, unstable housing, barriers to education or healthcare, and difficulty accessing the essentials needed to live safely and independently.
We give additional consideration to organisations working at the intersection of several of these areas, such LGBTQIA+ young people experiencing homelessness, or women facing violence and economic insecurity.
An organisation does not need to work across every priority area to be eligible.
How organisations are chosen
Before approving an organisation for Kkumi Contribution funding, we review its history, leadership, finances and programs. We check how it protects and treats the people it supports, and look for evidence that its work helps them.
Where relevant, we examine independent audits, regulatory records, public financial disclosures and media reports. We also investigate past controversies or misconduct, including how the organisation responded.
approval is not permanent.
Eligibility is continuously reassessed. Every organisation is reviewed against our internal eligibility standards, including a number of non-negotiable criteria that can automatically make an organisation ineligible for support.
If credible evidence later shows that an approved organisation has breached those standards, we will suspend or end our support. This applies even where the conduct occurred before we began supporting the organisation, or was not known at the time of approval.
our non-negotiables
some things automatically rule an organisation out
We will not knowingly support organisations where credible evidence establishes serious conduct including:
- discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people;
- discrimination against women or girls;
- coercive religious conversion or conditioning assistance on religious participation;
- corruption, fraud or misuse of charitable funds;
- concealment of abuse, exploitation or safeguarding failures;
- retaliation against whistleblowers, complainants, survivors or beneficiaries;
- knowingly tolerating abuse, harassment, trafficking or discrimination;
- serious unresolved safeguarding failures;
- deliberately misleading donors about finances, impact or program activity;
- exploitative or degrading treatment or representation of the people an organisation exists to support.
An allegation alone is not treated as proof.
Where historical misconduct is identified, we examine what happened, how leadership responded, whether affected people were supported, what changed afterward and whether the behaviour recurred.
currently approved for contribution Support
Every organisation listed below has passed our current eligibility review.
We intend to support Core recipients each year, provided they remain eligible. We also reserve part of the annual Contribution for Flexible recipients, choosing where to give based on current needs and programs.
Core funding
SHINY Foundation빛이나
Core funding
South Korea
The SHINY Foundation supports young artists in South Korea through professional psychological counselling, psychological assessments, scholarships, activity grants, and emergency support.
Their work focuses on protecting the mental health and wellbeing of people in the arts and entertainment industry, including young artists without access to agency support, while working toward a dedicated counselling centre for artists.
DDing Dong띵동
Core funding
South Korea
DDing Dong supports LGBTQ+ young people in South Korea experiencing family rejection, housing instability, homelessness, mental-health crises and other forms of vulnerability.
Their work includes counselling, crisis intervention, practical support, psychological counselling, housing assistance, scholarships and advocacy.
Flexible funding
Korea Women's Hot-Line한국여성의전화
Flexible funding
South Korea
Korea Women's Hot-Line supports women experiencing domestic violence, sexual violence, dating violence, stalking and other forms of gender-based violence.
Their work includes counselling, shelter and referrals, medical and legal support, survivor advocacy and systemic reform.
Dawoom / Together4Change다움
Flexible funding
South Korea
Dawoom is a South Korean LGBTQIA+ organisation focused on research, community leadership and structural change.
Their major research projects have examined the lives, employment, discrimination, mental health and social conditions of LGBTQIA+ people in South Korea, with findings used in academic research and public-policy discussions.
Youth Housing Rights Network On청소년주거권네트워크 온
Flexible funding
South Korea
Youth Housing Rights Network On works to improve the housing rights of young people who cannot safely remain in their family homes, including young people affected by violence, neglect, poverty and homelessness.
Their work combines youth participation, research, advocacy and practical housing-rights initiatives.
Korean Lesbian Counseling Center한국레즈비언상담소
Flexible funding
South Korea
The Korean Lesbian Counseling Center provides counselling, community support, education and human-rights advocacy for lesbians and other sexual-minority women in South Korea.
Their work includes relationship and violence support, community-building and broader advocacy for LGBTQIA+ rights.
how the 10% is divided
We do not automatically divide the Kkumi Contribution equally between every approved organisation. Instead, we use a Core + Flexible model.
SHINY Foundation + DDing Dong
Core funding
A portion of the annual Contribution is allocated consistently to organisations whose work has particularly strong and continuing alignment with Kkumi's priorities. Core organisations are selected because they:
- address one or more of our highest-priority issues;
- have strong, ongoing alignment with why the Kkumi Contribution exists;
- have passed our full approval process;
- are organisations we want to support over the long term;
Korea Women's Hot-Line, DAWOOM & MORE
Flexible funding
The remaining amount can change from year to year based on factors such as:
- emerging needs;
- specific programs requiring funding;
- the relative size of each organisation;
- where a contribution could have the greatest practical effect;
- changes in an organisation's work;
- new organisations passing our approval process;
- updated due diligence;
- crises or circumstances affecting the communities we prioritise.
This allows us to build meaningful long-term relationships without locking every future Contribution into a permanent percentage split.
100% Transparent Support
Kkumi has not yet made its first annual Contribution. Our first reporting period will cover Kkumi's trading from our official launch on October 15, 2026 through June 30, 2027. Once that financial year has closed and our annual profit has been calculated, we'll publish the total Kkumi Contribution, the organisations that received funding, and the amount given to each.
After each annual Contribution is made, this page will be updated with:
- Kkumi's total Contribution for the year;
- the organisations that received funding;
- the amount allocated to each organisation;
- any program-specific restrictions attached to the funding where relevant.
We will report actual dollar amounts rather than relying only on percentages.
if something goes wrong
our responsibility does not end when the money is sent
If an organisation Kkumi supports is later found to have engaged in conduct that would have made it ineligible, funding is stopped.
We then review:
- whether Kkumi funding may have contributed to the harm;
- what information was available when the organisation was approved;
- whether warning signs should reasonably have been identified;
- whether any unpaid funding can be redirected;
- whether further action is needed to support affected communities;
- whether our own due-diligence process needs to change.
Where Kkumi itself has materially contributed to harm or failed to respond appropriately to credible warning signs, any remedial action should be additional to the ordinary annual Kkumi Contribution rather than treated as part of it.
the long view
growing kkumi should mean contributing more, too.
As Kkumi’s profits grow, so will the amount we contribute. You don’t need to make an extra donation at checkout.
Our first reporting period ends on 30 June 2027. After we calculate that year’s profit and make the Contribution, we’ll publish the recipients and amounts here. We’ll also keep reviewing the organisations we support.