Analyzing Korea’s Social Impact Ecosystem Through a Newsletter

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 In my previous post, I explored the role of newsletters in Korea’s social impact sector.

 

<Read the previous post>

The Power of Newsletters in Connecting the Social Impact Ecosystem 


Among the examples introduced, one of the most representative is Orange Letter, a leading newsletter in the field.

 

Orange Letter is a weekly newsletter that curates information across the social sector—including nonprofits, social enterprises, social ventures, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. It covers job postings, news, educational programs, events, and fundraising campaigns. Most of its content is gathered through community submissions and compiled into a structured format.

 

Since its launch in June 2018, the newsletter has been consistently delivering updates from the social impact sector for eight years. It now has approximately 25,000 subscribers.

 

The newsletter is published by My Orange, an impact-tech startup. On March 30, the organization released Orange Report 2026, based on a comprehensive analysis of three years of newsletter data. In this post, I explore key insights from that report to better understand Korea’s social impact ecosystem.

 

Orange Report 2026 at a Glance, Main Image. (Source: Orange Report 2026, published by My Orange Inc.)

Key Statistics from Orange Letter

 

🌱🌳What Are Subscribers Interested In?

 

Orange Letter has around 25,000 subscribers. According to a survey conducted in early 2024 (with 1,008 respondents), about one-third of subscribers work in nonprofit organizations. Others are employed in CSR/ESG departments, social enterprises, and social ventures.

 

The newsletter is also read by people working in general corporations and public institutions, indicating that its audience extends beyond the core social impact sector.

 

One of the most notable findings in the report is the mapping of 18,296 pieces of content (published over three years) to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

 

👉The top areas of interest were:

 

Decent Work and Economic Growth (Goal 8): 21.1%

Quality Education (Goal 4): 15.2%

Good Health and Well-being (Goal 3): 11.2%

Climate Action (Goal 13): 8.0%

Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (Goal 9): 5.8%

 

Notably, Goal 8 and Goal 9 showed both high publication volume and high engagement, indicating strong alignment between supply and demand.

 

Mapping Areas of Interest in the Social Impact Sector: SDGs Alignment (Source: Orange Report 2026, published by My Orange Inc.)

📖👀Structural Insights from the Job Market

 

Another key insight from the report relates to employment trends in the social impact sector.

 

Practitioners often say that even if their current organization is not a perfect fit, they tend to stay due to limited job opportunities.

 

The data supports this perception. The number of unique job postings submitted to Orange Letter was:

664 in 2023

489 in 2024

491 in 2025

 

This suggests that the job market has stagnated in recent years.

 

As of 2025, experienced hires accounted for 56% of job postings, while internships made up around 10%. Entry-level positions, however, represented only about 6%, indicating that barriers to entry remain relatively high.

 

❓What Kinds of Jobs Attract Attention?

 

The report also identifies clear patterns in the types of job postings that attract the most attention.

 

🌟Joint Recruitment Programs

These are hiring initiatives conducted by multiple organizations together. A representative example is Impact Career NPO, run by Root Impact, which connects nonprofit organizations with young talent. In the analysis, a joint recruitment program involving 12 nonprofits ranked first over the three-year period, with 572 engagements.

 

🌝Interest in Corporate–Nonprofit Intersections

Job postings related to corporate CSR roles and impact investing ranked highly. Positions at large corporations, foundations, and impact investment firms recorded 400–500 clicks.

 

📺💻Growing Interest in AI

 

In 2025, interest in AI-related programs also increased significantly.

 

👉Within the education/events category:

 

-A program on “Using ChatGPT for Document Writing” ranked highest

-An AI content creation course ranked fourth

-An AI chatbot program for social welfare ranked sixth

 

This indicates a growing demand for AI-related skills within the social impact sector.

 

🍊Conclusion

 

Of course, this analysis has limitations. Since Orange Letter is based on voluntary submissions, it does not represent a complete dataset of the entire ecosystem. Additionally, some job postings and programs may have been listed multiple times.

 

However, the findings are still meaningful.

 

They highlight the need to attract more young talent into the social impact sector and show that the field is gradually undergoing digital transformation. At the same time, experienced practitioners appear to be actively learning and adapting to these changes.

 

Some may view newsletters simply as tools for sharing information. But this analysis suggests something more:

 

In the social impact sector, newsletters can function as valuable data sources—helping us understand the ecosystem and guiding it toward a better direction.

 

Source: Orange Report 2026, published by My Orange Inc.

 

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