WALLET OF THE POOR:

A MODEL OF SUSTAINABLE FAITHBASED GIVING

By Dompet Dhuafa
2016 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee
Presented at the 56th Ramon Magsaysay Awards Lecture Series
2 September 2016, Manila, Philippines

INTRODUCTION
Religious belief could be an inspiration for extensive giving activities. It
is believed that values originating from religious teachings encourage
people to share their blessings with those who are in need. Most
Muslims in Indonesia are convinced that giving is one of the actions
highly recommended by Islamic faith.
For a Muslim, the act of performing ones religious duties to God must
be accompanied by concern for others. Acts of worship like prayer and
zakat (mandatory contribution to be distributed to the poor) cannot be
separated, because they are mentioned sequentially in the Quran
(Muslim holy book). Prayer is ranked first and paying zakat second. In
total, the command for prayer and paying zakat or giving to the poor is
mentioned twenty-seven times in the Qur'an which shows how important
they are.

Copyright 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation

Through spiritual journey and seeing socio-cultural realities, the leader

of Republika Daily Newspaper, Mr. Parni Hadi came out with an idea
which later on became instrumental in poverty alleviation in Indonesia.
Dompet Dhuafa was then born, initially garnering support within the
ranks of journalists and employees of the Daily, voluntarily setting aside
2.5 percent of their incomes for this end. Money raised was then
distributed to those in need. On 2 July 1993, Dompet Dhuafa Republika
Foundation was formally established as an institution that facilitates
charitable projects of the Republika Daily Newspaper.
When these projects were communicated to the public, it prompted them
to follow, with donations increasing over time. Growing public
awareness about other forms of zakat increased the amount of funds
collected. Dompet Dhuafa is charged to use the funds responsibly. The
funds are not merely distributed to the poor, but also used sustainably to
overcome poverty.
POVERTY
Poverty is a state of not having enough money to meet basic needs such
as food, clothing and shelter. But in reality, it is more than just not
having enough money. The World Bank describes poverty as follows:
Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is when the ill and
cannot go to a doctor. Poverty is not having access to education. Poverty
is not having a job, fearing for the future, and living just one day at a
time.
It is a state that people want to escape. So everyone, whether rich or
poor, must act and do their share in fighting this problem.

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Since the poor cannot afford even the basic necessities, they are also not
able to engage even in recreational activities. People who are left out in
society can sometimes cause problems to the community.
While much progress has been made in measuring and analyzing
poverty, the World Bank needs to understand its other dimensions. This
includes the identification of social indicators to track education, health,
access to services, vulnerability, and social exclusion.
No matter how poverty is defined, it is a problem that requires
everyones attention. It is important for people to work together and
provide opportunity for members of society to achieve their full
potential.
There is no one definite cause of poverty, and the effect is different in
each case. Being poor in New York in the United States of America for
example is certainly different from living in poverty in Jakarta,
Indonesia. The differences between rich and poor within the boundaries
of a country can be huge.
A person is considered poor if his income is below the poverty line.
The poverty line is the minimum level of income needed to survive in a
particular country. According to the World Bank this varies depending
on the location, since each country uses lines which correspond to its
level of development, societal norms and values. As a result, the
poverty line in developed countries is higher compared to developing
countries.
In 2015, Indonesia's national poverty line is set at US$25.4
(IDR_334,745.94) per month. According to the World Bank report, as
Indonesia continues to record significant economic growth, its gross
national income per capita has risen from US$2,200 in 2000 to
US$3,346 in 2015.

Copyright 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation

Indonesia has launched the four-pro policies, namely pro-growth, projob, pro-environment and pro-poor. Included in the pro-poor category
are people with disabilities. These policies were issued in order to
overcome poverty. However, the challenge is still quite large. From a
population of 257 million, more than 28 million Indonesians are
currently living below the poverty line (10.86 percent) and about half of
all households remain clustered around the national poverty line.
Those who are economically poor will automatically be poor in areas of
health, education, cultural values and religious beliefs, as well as
discipline. Low-income people who have limited access to nutritious
food and adequate shelter are vulnerable to diseases. The situation is
made worse since they cannot avail of health services. The poor also
tend to perform poorly in school and this affects their character and
values while they are growing up. Based on these observations, Mr.
Parni Hadi, as the leader of the Republika at the time was inspired to
establish what is now called Dompet Dhuafa Republika Foundation,
which later became known as DD.

PROPHETIC JOURNALISM: COMBINATION OF WORDS AND

ACTIONS
In April 1993, Mr. Parni Hadi who was then the Editor in Chief of the
Republika Daily Newspaper, visited Yogyakarta, Central Java. He was
struck by the report of the volunteers of social activities which said that
the poverty problem was so acute and needed relief.
As a journalist, Mr. Parni Hadi tried to promote societal change through
words (both written and spoken) for nearly thirty years. But feedback
from volunteers his own observations prompted him to do something

Copyright 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation

more than just a reporting. He developed the idea of raising and utilizing
funds to help the poor. Thus, Mr. Hadi initiated the establishment of
Dompet Dhuafa (DD), which literally means "Wallet for the Poor" on 2
July 1993.
Starting initially as the social arm of Republika Daily Newspaper, DD
collects zakat, infaq, shodaqoh and waqf for the poor. The money raised
goes to the group of fakir (absolute poor) and to finance three main
Empowerment Programs": (1) Interest-free revolving funds for small
scale economic projects/community enterprises; (2) Free health care;
and (3) Free education for the poor. Since then, the Republika Daily
Newspaper has created a combined transformation of words and
concrete actions. By doing such, the newspaper has embodied the four
noble characteristics of Prophet Muhammad (SAW): siddiq (truth),
tabligh (educative dissemination), amanah (accountable), and fatanah
(wisdom). This kind of journalistic mission was developed by Mr. Parni
Hadi and called it Prophetic Journalism.
On 19 September 1994, DD changed its status to a foundation. It became
an independent and autonomous body, separate from the management of
the Republika Daily Newspaper. With the blessings of Allah, God
Almighty, DD has gained greater success. This success is due to DD's
fair, accountable, and professional management plus the significant
support from the media. Initially it was Republika who supported the
foundation but later on almost all major national media firms provided
help. The media that supported DD have also benefited because they
were later regarded as pro-poor media.
DD expanded its media presence and developed its internal publications,
website, Facebook, Twitter and other social media. DDs latest printed
media is Swara Cinta, or Voice of Love, a monthly magazine which can
be accessed online.

Copyright 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation

DD was successful not only in increasing the amount of collected funds,

but also in encouraging Muslims to give zakat and restoring their
confidence in a Muslim fundraising foundation that is professionally
managed with a high standard of accountability.
The number of DDs donors increases every year. Currently this totals to
120,000 people. Aside from fixed and occasional donors, DD recorded
increasing flow of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) funds from
domestic and multinational companies.
DD has been recognized not only as a fundraiser, but also as community
empowerment institution. Looking at the success of DD, many
newspapers, radio and television stations have followed its model and
established similar social institutions.
Zakat is recommended as an effective way to reduce poverty in
Indonesia. A survey stated that Indonesia has zakat potential of
US$20,700 million per year, but only about 5 percent of this is collected
by zakat institutions.
POVERTY REDUCTION PROGRAM
To carry out the roles to reduce poverty number, DD performs four main
activities, namely health, education, economic empowerment and social
development.
Health
Through the free health care services, Dompet Dhuafa runs various
curative, preventive and promotive health programs. Dompet Dhuafa set
up a free hospital for the poor in 2009 in Bogor, Indonesia on an area of

Copyright 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation

more than 7.6 hectares. The Integrated Health House of Dompet Dhuafa
(Rumah Sehat Terpadu Dompet Dhuafa, RST DD) has complete
facilities: polyclinics, specialist physicians, operating rooms, intensive
care unit (ICU) and pharmacy under a complementary medical system.
Dompet Dhuafa also runs eight clinics, twelve Gerai Sehat (sub-clinics)
and fourty-four Pos Sehat (health centers) throughout Indonesia.
Education
The foundation has established several networks of schools and
scholarships for poor children. These provide quality education at par
with well-known and established schools in Indonesia. Dompet Dhuafa
continues to provide scholarships to 5,529 students. It has organized
trainings for teachers who will be assigned to schools that are lagging
behind in Indonesia. Dompet Dhuafa has trained 2,710 teachers who
now teach at various schools throughout the country.
Economy
Dompet Dhuafa formed an economic division to help the poor through
various programs that will help them to become self-reliant. DD's
economic program is now spread all over Indonesia.
Livestock Farming
Kampoeng Ternak is one of Dompet Dhuafas programs, which has run
various empowerment programs for fourteen years. Since its
establishment in 2002, a total of 13,637 families have received donations
in the form of livestock where 18,699 goats and sheep, and 777 cows
have been donated under this program.

Copyright 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation

Agriculture Farming
Lembaga Pertanian Sehat (LPS) was found in 1999 to become center for
research and development of agriculture. This program has helped many
farmers in developing sound agricultural practices in various regions in
Indonesia. The program has 12,404 farmers or beneficiaries until the end
of 2015.
Small Business
Since 2000, Dompet Dhuafa has helped small-business in rural and
urban areas and even post-disaster regions spread throughout Indonesia
through economic empowerment programs that may address various
social issues. The number of beneficiaries of this program has reached
15,620 by the end of 2015.
Social Development
One of the relief programs of Dompet Dhuafa is to help Indonesian
migrant workers living abroad. It is one of four anti-poverty programs
that aimed to provide immediate assistance to those in need, serving
their pragmatic needs and offering them the quick and effective ways to
get out of serious problems. The social development programs of
Dompet Dhuafa also include support for disaster victims and migrant
workers, legal aid for the poor, and support for environmental activities.
Through various empowerment programs conducted by DD to overcome
poverty, more than 13 million people have become beneficiaries of DDs
programs up to 2015. These programs have helped to reduce the level of
poverty severity of the beneficiaries by 40 percent.

Copyright 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation

MOBILIZATION OF FUNDS AND RESOURCES

To be able to mobilize funds and resources from the community, DD
conducts a series of activities as follows:
Fundraising Program
1.

Release interesting thematic publications on zakat, infaq and waqf

in various media.
2.
Partner with companies and formulate a donation program through
their finance department.
3.
Open donation counters at places frequented by many people
4.
Cooperate with various banks to provide easy access to make
donations
5.
Offer CSR programs to companies
6.
Offer donations pick-up service
Effective Communication and Publication
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Issue the Swara Cinta (Voice of Love) magazinea monthly

magazine of 20,000 copies for donors
Zakat Application on smart phones (iPad, iPhone, and iPod)
Zakat TV, a streaming television program
Launch the e-Zakat application, an Android-based platform
Manage the social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)
Manage the community radio station "Swara Cinta"
Place ads in various mass media
Work with online shopping sites (bukalapak.com, elevenia.com,
etc.)
Organize the crowd funding in cooperation with kitabisa.com

Copyright 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation

With a variety of campaign and fund raising programs, DD has managed

to collect a total donation of US$20.2 million (IDR265,900,685,279
billion) in 2015.
ANTI-CORRUPTION CAMPAIGN
Dompet Dhuafa as an institution believes in the protection of its funds to
maintain the integrity of the institution. DD develops activities in the
Pusat Belajar Anti Korupsi-PBAK (Anti-Corruption Resource Center).
The activities are organized in cooperation with the Komisi
Pemberantasan Korupsi (Corruption Eradication Commission)
Indonesia.
PBAK activities are aimed to instill anti-corruption culture at all levels
of DD management and to become a vehicle for anti-corruption
education for other institutions that engaged in managing public funds.
In DDs view, corruption done by government officials is one of the
causes of poverty. Development funds that should be allocated to the
poor and to finance poverty alleviation programs have been stolen by
these irresponsible people. Thus, the anti-corruption campaign is one
way to help to overcome poverty.
WAQF FOR HOSPITAL
Currently DD is promoting the collection of waqf to finance the
establishment and management of hospitals. Health has an important
role in overcoming poverty. If the poor are sick, then they would not be
able to work or make an effort to earn a living.
To speed up the establishment and management of these hospitals, DD is
collecting waqf (endowment) from the people. Apart from zakat, waqf

Copyright 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation

has an important role in financing infrastructure facilities for the

implementation of public services.
In the past, DD has been entrusted with various waqf from the public as
follows:
1.

The number of waqf on land and buildings managed by DD is

twenty six, covering an area of 150,127 square meters with a value
of US$134 million (IDR1,763,895,600,280 trillion). This value
includes the school buildings and its management.

2.

The total investment of productive waqf or cash waqf in 20082013 reached US$1 million (IDR13,163,400,000 billion), and
yielded a return of US$56,823 (IDR748,183,331 million). DD also
received waqf in the form of shares totaling to 483,557 shares
valued at US$323,254 (IDR4,256,904,888). Additionally, DD has
also received waqf in the form of vehicles namely two cars and
four motor bikes.

Currently, DD is focusing on collecting cash waqf as well as waqf on

machines and equipment to build and manage hospitals in several
regions in Indonesia. We are planning that in 2017 there will be ten
Hospitals built based on this waqf development program.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS
There are several factors that determine the success of Dompet Dhuafa
in carrying out its mission as religious-based philanthropic institution in
Indonesia, namely:

Copyright 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation

Innovation Program
Dompet Dhuafa has established new and innovative programs that
benefited the community. Among others are the programs of Tebar
Hewan Kurban, Layanan Kesehatan Cuma-Cuma, SMART Ekselensia
Indonesia, Institut Kemandirian, Kampoeng Ternak and so forth. These
programs essentially have the latest breakthrough values packaged with
eye-catching names to attract attention.
Professionalization of Management
Dompet Dhuafa since its establishment has brought the concept of
professionalism in the management of the organization. In contrast to
many social organizations that were managed casually at that time,
Dompet Dhuafa has been managed full time by recruiting young
potential personnel. They receive adequate salaries to perform tasks with
success targets that need to be achieved. Dompet Dhuafa has
implemented the international quality management system of ISO 9001:
2008 and Malcolm Baldrige Criteria.
Transparency and Public Accountability
As an organization that is entrusted to manage public funds, Dompet
Dhuafa continually applies the transparency and public accountability
principles. Dompet Dhuafa always tries to utilize the funds as per their
designated purpose and recorded them in a financial information system.
Furthermore, the annual financial statements of Dompet Dhuafa are
audited by public accountants and published in the national mass media.
Dompet Dhuafa is open for members of the public who would like to
review its financial statements.

Copyright 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation

Socialization and Communication

Because Dompet Dhuafa was started in a newspaper company, its
socialization and communication culture has been very profound early
on. DD always disseminates information about it programs to the public
through various communication channels. This is to inform the people
about the projects of the foundation and invite them to support the
projects by making contributions.
Technology Adoption
Because of rapid technological developments, the foundation needs to
constantly adapt to the latest technology which could be used in its
work. Technology applications are being designed to make work in the
foundation more efficient. The use of social media is also utilized by
Dompet Dhuafa as means to introduce the institution and its programs to
the people, as well as a vehicle for donations receipt.
Dedication and hard work
The dedication of the employees and volunteers of Dompet Dhuafa in
carrying out humanitarian tasks also contributes to its success. They are
very committed and loyal in serving donors and beneficiaries. Moreover,
in the event of a disaster, these employees and volunteers work 24-hours
for 7-days-a-week. They continuously work on shifts to help disaster
victims and invite donors to help the support calamity survivors.
CHALLENGES TO BE FACED
The poverty rate in Indonesia is still considered high. With 28.01 million
people living below the poverty line, this continues to be a challenge for
the foundation. Due to the large number of people in the country that

Copyright 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation

need help, Dompet Dhuafa has to choose and the most appropriate
groups that need help so that programs to be implemented are run
successfully. Many poor people are often subjected to some community
members questions about what has been done by the agencies entrusted
with public funds and the extent of their success in overcoming poverty.
These conditions challenges DD to further improve the quality of its
programs in order to make them more effective in reducing the poverty
rate.
Carrying out anti-poverty programs is not easy. These activities must be
carried out simultaneously and it involves many parties. It needs
synergistic cooperation of various stakeholders. Todays conditions
show that the synergy between various stakeholders is still not yet
optimal. More effort is needed to make the different stakeholders work
in a synergistic manner.
Dompet Dhuafa continues to make efforts to be a trustworthy,
accountable and professional institution that manages religious social
funds to alleviate poverty. The foundation will try and continue to be the
wallet for the poor. Thus Dompet Dhuafa would like to ask everyone
to work together towards poverty alleviation.

Copyright 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation