South Korean steel giant Posco Group marked the 10th anniversary of the Posco 1% Foundation, the group's social outreach body, highlighting the voluntary participation of employees and executives as the key to long-running donations.

Established in 2013, Posco 1% Foundation is financed by its employees who make regular donations using 1 percent of their monthly wages. As of 2023, over 98 percent of Posco’s workers are participating in programs to help support underprivileged communities, the steelmaker said.

The foundation has undertaken diverse social contribution campaigns including education programs for underprivileged children, financial aid for the elderly, youth, disabled, and multicultural families, and donations for war veterans.

The foundation also has an online donation service dubbed the “1% My Little Charity,” where employees select charities to sponsor. The charities consist of mostly nongovernmental organizations that carry out public services for the underprivileged.

With such active participation, the foundation’s cumulative donations reached 89.8 billion won ($68.7 million), with over 35,000 donors and 303,844 beneficiaries over the last decade. The foundation's donations are the largest among the nation’s corporate foundations, Posco added.

With Posco Group CEO Choi Jeong-woo as its chairman, the Posco 1% Foundation values transparency and open communication with donors, the company said.

Under the board of directors, the foundation is also run by a fund management committee and program selection committee. Launched in 2018, the program selection committee is operated by donors, who actively voice their opinions on new campaigns, and serves as a bridge between the foundation and donors.

Through its incorporation of charitable practices into corporate culture, the Posco 1% Foundation received the Presidential Citation at the Korea Sharing Awards in 2013 as well as the Prime Minister’s Commendation for the merits of its family-friendly policies in celebration of Family Day in 2022.

The company was also globally recognized for fostering an optimal corporate social responsibility model, winning the Innovation Awards for the first time among Asian companies at the 2023 International Corporate Citizenship conference hosted by Boston College in May.

“As we can see from the Posco Charter of Corporate Citizenship declared in 2019, Posco is a corporation that continuously drives change and innovation for the growth of society,” said Katherine V. Smith, executive director of the Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College.

“These are some values that should be pursued by all companies beyond Korea.”