[Sponsorship] The driving force behind continuing this funding campaign on my own, without any flashy Rewards, was

Even if you don’t have a flashy product or service, or if you’re not a company or brand, the doors to wadiz funding are wide open. Just like Maker Kim Hyun-kyung, who has carried out three donation projects through wadiz over the past five years, realizing her own dreams.

Is there a dream you’ve always secretly wanted to achieve—one for which you’ve longed for people’s cheers? This maker’s story will surely give you the courage you need. 

“President Kim,” Kim Hyun-kyung, a maker who spreads the joy of sharing

Maker Kim Hyun-kyung (right) and her family

Hello, I’m Kim Hyun-kyung, and I’ve personally launched a funding campaign on wadiz to raise funds for donations and sponsorships. While my role as a mother—giving birth to and raising a child—takes up a significant part of my life, I still introduce myself as Kim Hyun-kyung. I’ve also had the nickname “President Kim” since I was a child, which stands for “communicating with the masses to exchange inspiration.” 

I first planned a wadiz funding campaign back in 2018. Under the name “Chalrangchanran Project,”, I launched a funding campaign to support children with leukemia and pediatric cancer. Thanks to 79 supporters at the time, I was able to successfully carry out a wig-making sponsorship project that would have been difficult to manage on my own.

Later, in 2020 and 2022, I organized funding campaigns to commemorate my children’s first birthday celebrations. Hoping my children would grow up to be people who understand the joy of giving, I celebrated their first birthdays by donating, together with our supporters, to organizations supporting single mothers and infants, as well as those supporting children with cancer. 

Sharing has been an important value to me ever since middle school , when I earned the nickname “President Kim .” I found great fulfillment in seeing the people around me become happier and lead better lives because of me . As a college student, I was so dedicated that I participated in 50 extracurricular activities, including overseas volunteer work and mural painting . I’ve also been consistently donating my hair and giving blood ever since then.

I believe in the saying, “Birds of a feather flock together.” I think that if I strive to be a good person first, warm-hearted people will naturally gather around me—just as I met my supporters through the wadiz funding campaign.

Why I Chose to Launch a wadiz Funding Campaign Instead of Individual Donations

To be honest, in my 20s, I sometimes felt a bit smug about volunteering and giving back on my own. The more diverse my activities were, the more underclassmen at my university would seek me out. As I entered the workforce, I realized I was just one member of society, and from then on, I became more interested in projects I could do with others rather than alone.

That’s when I discovered wadiz, which wasalready the number one crowdfunding platform in Koreaat the time. Since credibility is crucial for donation projects , I believed it was a platform that could lend credibility to me as a person, so I decided to take on this challenge.It was a turning point that allowed me to move beyond my previoussmall-scale volunteer work and provide larger-scale support.

A funding campaign planned to commemorate the first and second birthdays of my children

What I realized while running the funding campaign was that positive influence can spread like a relay. A close friend told me that after hearing about my first funding campaign—which supported wig production—she started donating her own hair.

My second funding campaign was donation project to celebrate my first child’s first birthdaywas planned thanks to my husband’s encouragement and support for the idea. Thanks to the positive impact of the funding campaign, this year my second child’s first birthdayon wadiz this year.

I like funding because it makes me feel like I’m just “Kim Hyun-kyung,” not “Mom Kim Hyun-kyung.” Of course, my last two campaigns were held in conjunction with my children’s first birthday celebrations,but I believe I was able to do them precisely because I’m a parent. When you’re raising children, things often don’t go the way you want them to. Amid all that, fundingbecame a way for me to maintain my self-esteem.

wadiz supporters who believed in the power of an individual—not a company or a brand

While preparing a funding campaign centered on an individual, I was often anxious about whether people would show interest or if the campaign would succeed.

When I was preparing for my first funding campaign, I had—rather recklessly—visited various leukemia associations without any concrete plan, declaring that I would donate money and my hair. I had to be prepared to cover all costs out of my own pocket if the campaign failed. So, at times, I realistically lowered the funding goal to a level I could actually afford.

The funding story emphasized the positive influence of our supporters

But the more I did that, the harder I tried to pour my heart into the funding story. I tried to concretely express the power of what can be achieved when people come together—including my supporters—even though I couldn’t do it alone. Especiallyfor the first birthday donation project, as a mother myself, I felt I could convey phrases like “It takes a village to raise a child” with even greater sincerity. That sincerity resonated with my supporters, allowing me to successfully complete the funding. 

Contrary to my worries, I was truly grateful that supporters resonated with my vision—some even expressed a desire to participate in the project without receiving any rewards. Once we become adults, opportunities to help others and share what we have gradually diminish, just as they did when we were students buying Christmas seals every year.

It was very rewarding to see that the funding campaign I organized became a meaningful opportunity for my supporters to give back as well.I think they trusted me even more because this was a personal funding campaign where I shared every detail, from the progressto the material costs.

Far more people than I had anticipated understood the purpose of the project. It was a heartwarming funding journey—one supporter even offered words of cheer, saying they were excited about my child’s future.

You can definitely succeed with wadiz funding on your own 

Rewards—such as calligraphy pieces and postcards—that I prepared with great care for every funding campaign

If you’re someone who wants to run your own funding campaign like I did, I want to encourage you not to feel intimidated by comparing your project to others or feel ashamed of yourself—just go for it. I even considered calling off the funding campaign because I thought the rewards I’d prepared were relatively modest. But in the end, I pulled it off.

Even if you run a funding campaign with the minimum funding goal, failure is just experience, and success builds a great portfolio—so I hope you’ll find the courage to give it a try. We live in an era where tastes are incredibly diverse. There are definitely people on wadiz who will appreciate your work, so just go for it. wadiz is a platform that makes taking on new challenges easier.

Moving forward, I plan to continue doing what I can as “Kim Hyun-kyung, the person” through wadiz,while leaving my own unique mark along the way.In addition to the donation and sponsorship funding campaigns I’ve runso far,I’m also considering new projects, such as publishing an essay collection. If my efforts can have a positive influence on others, that would be absolutely wonderful.

Written by Jeong So-jeong, Edited by Han Ji-hye

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