16. Philanthropy

In 2015, BTS donated seven tons (7,187 kg) of rice to charity at the K-Star Road opening ceremony held in Apgujeong-dong. The following year they participated in ALLETS's "Let's Share the Heart" collaboration charity campaign with Naver to raise donations for LISA, a Korean medical charity which promotes organ and blood donation.

In January 2017, BTS and Big Hit Entertainment donated ₩100 million ($87,915) to the 4/16 Sewol Families for Truth and A Safer Society, an organization connected to the families of the 2014 Sinking of MV Sewol. Each member donated ₩10 million and Big Hit Entertainment donated an additional ₩30 million. The donation was intended to have been made in secret. Later that year, BTS officially launched their Love Myself campaign, an initiative dedicated to funding several social programs to prevent violence against children and teens and to provide support for victims of violence in partnership with the Korean Committee for UNICEF. BTS donated ₩500 million ($448,000) from the members and 100% of all sales of official goods for the Love Myself campaign over the next two years in addition to donations collected from donation desks installed by UNICEF. In addition, 3% of the sales from each album in the Love Yourself series (Love Yourself: Her, Love Yourself: Tear, and Love Yourself: Answer) were donated to the cause. Within two months of its launch the campaign raised an additional ₩106 million, taking the worldwide funds total to ₩606 million. In November 2018, UNICEF Korea announced that the Love Myself campaign had raised over ₩1.6 billion ($1.4 million). By June 2019, it had surpassed ₩2.4 billion.

In April 2018, BTS participated in Stevie Wonder's "Dream Still Lives" tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. alongside other celebrities. That June, the group donated to the ALS hospital building fund. In September, BTS attended the United Nations 73rd General Assembly for the launch of the youth initiative "Youth 2030: The UN Youth Strategy" and its corresponding UNICEF campaign "Generation Unlimited". On behalf of the group, BTS' leader RM delivered a six-minute speech in English about self-acceptance, as well as their Love Myself campaign. According to UNICEF, the goal of the initiative is "to provide quality education and training for young people". BTS were selected to attend due to their impact on youth culture through their music and social messages, previous philanthropic endeavors, and popularity among the 15-to-25-year-old age demographic.

In January 2020, Starbucks Korea partnered with BTS for their "Be the Brightest Stars" campaign that included limited-edition beverages, food and merchandise exclusive to South Korea. A portion of the profits from the campaign went towards career and educational development programs for disadvantaged youth as part of The Beautiful Foundation's Opportunity Youth Independence Project. Also in that month, BTS partook in the Grammy week charity auction event, auctioning off a set of seven microphones used during their Love Yourself World Tour. The lot sold for US$83,000 (the highest of the event) and all proceeds were donated to MusiCares, a non-profit organization that focuses on human service issues directly impacting the health and welfare of the music community.