The Purple Effect: BTS ARMY help raise $1 Million through independent charity fundraisers
During his ending mention at Citi Field during their 2018 Love Yourself Concert Tour, RM aka Kim Namjoon, leader of BTS, highlighted the impact that ARMY, their fandom, had on his self-love journey. Through their song “Magic Shop”, the group paid ode to their fans when they re-emphasized the latter’s potential to change the world: you gave me the best of me, so, you give you the best of you.
Since the beginning, the influence of BTS’ music has gone beyond internal healing and has extended towards making an outward impact. Tackling social issues, the septet have guided ARMY through their music and philanthropic efforts to take initiatives in helping people around the world. Be it through free education groups, book clubs, supporting local non-profits, organizing charity projects at concert venues, or launching campaigns to help BTS’ industry peers with their goals for social good. The fans have always been action-oriented, forever at the front-line to help spread the boys’ message for love and compassion.
you gave me the best of me, so, you give you the best of you
BTS ARMY ACHIEVES NEW FEAT IN 2020: $1 Million
Following the principle of “many a drop makes an ocean”, One In an ARMY started as a fan collective to organize BTS fans around the world and provide them with an outlet for social good through micro-donations for charity projects launched on a monthly basis. Our first campaign was launched in April 2018 to help Medical Teams International in Syria. Despite it being an inaugural project, 149 ARMY from 36 countries came forward to raise $2673.00 to help ship life-saving medical supplies to clinics in desperate need. This became the stepping stone for the amazing things that OIAA & ARMY, through independent projects, went on to achieve in the next 24 months.
Here’s a summary of ARMYs impact through OIAA’s campaigns in numbers:
May 2018: SyriaCare
3,151.19MYR from 18 countries for Ramadan Meals for Syrian people
The donations through the project provided 211 individual meals wherein seven people were provided with a meal each day for the entire 30 days of Ramadan.
July 2018: Thirst Relief
$3,412 from 215 individual donations in 42 countries
ARMY came together and raised funds to help provide 34 BioSand water filters. These filters will help save and improve the lives of over 300 people, for the next two decades.
August 2018: Korean Kids and Orphanage Outreach Mission (KKOOM)
$3,840.00 from 278 donors in 40 countries and 22 states in the US
ARMY, through this project, helped fund college scholarships for KKOOM’s scholars, Se-Hee ( studying Hotel Tourism) and Yonghoon (studying Social Welfare). You also helped provide a full year’s preschool scholarship to two-year old HyungJun.
September 2018: Gili Eco Trust
$3927.65 from 276 donors in 45 countries
For the September project, ARMY came in at the much needed time. They did not just raise funds for the Gili Eco Trust but also aided in the cleanup of the crisis-hit Gili Islands!
October 2018: MindLeaps International
$3563.67 from 243 donors in 40 countries
The donations from the campaign helped fund MindLeaps program in Rwanda, providing kids at their center with a total of 244 hours of dance classes, 128 hours of academic acceleration courses and 6000 meals.
November 2018: Cuatro Por Venezuela
$3027.21 from 146 donors in 34 countries and 27 states
The organization helps people in Venezuela and provides them with basic necessities including food, sanitation, and medical supplies. The funds were used to provide much-needed formula for infants in the largest children’s hospital in Caracas.
December 2018: Purple Community Fund
$3630.29 from 342 donors in 30 countries
ARMY raised enough funds to help PCF provide machines, tools, trainers, and food supplies to the people in the Livelihood Programme so that their families will be provided for while they are learning their new skills.
January 2019: Children’s Healing Art Project
$6,869.74 from 372 donors in over 40 countries
The campaign funds will pay for art supplies, trainers, art training and supervision. ARMYs did not just help rescue children’s Saturday program for January, but supported it well to keep it running with staff and supplies for the next SIX MONTHS.
February 2019: Transforming Faces
$11,146.07 (CAD) from 437 donors in over 50 countries
The donations through the project will help provide a comprehensive cleft care to 28 children for an entire year.
March 2019: Playing for Change Foundation
$4867 from 266 donors in over 50 countries
The donations by ARMY for the campaign will help PFCF buy musical instruments and technological tools for their music and healing workshops, as well as help expand their programs to reach more students.
May 2019: International Railroad for Queer Refugees
$1,574.71 from donors in 22 countries
The organisation works to relieve poverty for LGBT refugees in Turkey by providing them basic necessities of life and by providing resettlement assistance. The funds raised through the campaign covered the cost of one year’s worth of basic food for a refugee.
July 2019: Pets for the Elderly
$2,268 from 168 donors
The funds raised by ARMY facilitated at least 45 adoptions, and helped change the lives of at least 90 seniors and animals.
August 2019: Helen Bamber Foundation
$5,320.79 from 200 donors in over 40 countries
The donations through this project went into helping the organisation provide wellness services for more than 40 survivors of human rights violation. By giving them access to activities like yoga classes and football, the organisation will empower the individuals to reclaim a healthy and a normal life.
September 2019: Hug It Forward
$7,935.09 from 645 donors from over 39 countries
The campaign helped raise funds to build a 3-classroom middle school for 52 middle school-aged students out of recycled material in the community of Maria del Carmen in Guatemala!
October 2019: za’atar NGO
€5452 from 225+ donor in over 31 countries
The funds were raised to help za’atar NGO provide classes with language tutors, vocational training, and asylum applications. The campaign would also aid in vital renovations for the Orange House and help establish small businesses to refugees in their journey towards self-sufficiency.
November 2019: Pazapa Center for Children with Disabilities
$2,370.79 from 176 donors in over 40 countries
Haiti, at the time when this project was being run, was going through a humanitarian crisis, making it difficult for people to buy food. The donation from the project went towards providing emergency food rations for the families PAZAPA supports.
December 2019: Animal Aid Unlimited
$3448.51 from 116+ donors in over 27 countries
Donations raised from the campaign went towards street animal rescue, spay & neuter, and humane education. The project also helped provide medical care, food, and care to vulnerable animals.
January 2020: 100Cameras
$2,286.25 from 160 donors in over 28 countries
The funds raised through the campaign went towards a new program in Nairobi, Kenya. 10 boys and girls will be able to take lessons about storytelling through photography.
February 2020: Outside Looking in
$5,907.97 (CAD) from 369 donors in over 47 countries
Outside Looking In uses the transformative art of dance, to inspire and empower Indigenous youth in Canada through life skills. The project helped the organization cover the cost of their annual showcase.
To check out other campaigns and more details for the ones listed above, visit the archive page on our website.
3 months into 2020, ARMY have already raised $665K for donations.
In the last two years, several projects have been launched by OIAA and by ARMY independently. These projects have received massive support. Today, we are proud to announce that ARMY have successfully raised $1 Million worldwide through independent charity fundraisers, excluding UNICEF X BTS Love Myself Campaign. The collective figure came down to $1,057,142, out of which $100K was collected through the work done with OIAA.
We’ve compiled a Google map that shows all of the charity that ARMY & BTS have contributed to worldwide starting from 2015 to now.
many a drop makes an ocean
Teamwork indeed makes a dream work!
All the credit for this massive feat goes to ARMYs who through their drive and passion for social change have been relentlessly working to materialize the projects into reality. So, we would like to say to ARMY, pat yourself on the back! You are helping us to make this world a better place to live. You are the reason why these projects went beyond ideas and turned into actionable campaigns.
But the journey is not over. We strive to continue our mission for seeking organizations that need our help and contribute ARMY power to support them. Right now, One In An ARMY is running a campaign to help organizations during the Covid19 crisis. The complete details are available on our all of our socials: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and on our website.
If you’re interested in contributing to this campaign, you can check out the details and share your support. We look forward to working with you!
