Becoming a Sustainable of Da'wah Organization in Crisis Era: Experience from Rumah Tahfiz in Bengkulu

This paper reveals the efforts made by the Rumah Tahfiz Impian (RTI) in Bengkulu City to continue to be sustainable during Covid-19. Field data was collected through in-depth interviews with ten informants; non-participant observations were made several times to obtain additional evidence and documentation that was considered supportive. All data is tabulated and analyzed using coding, categorization, and thematic systems. Our panel found that cost-sharing was the key to RTI's success in getting out of the crisis. Inconsistencies in donor donations are still resolved by dividing the daily operational burden among the students' parents and the community around the environment. Several efforts were made, such as scheduling pickets between side dishes and vegetables, rice or primary food donations, and money. This finding provides insight into Rumah Tahfiz which has cases of opening institutions that need more planning and management skills. Research with the same focus but for different cultural backgrounds of society needs to be carried out in the future


A. Introduction
Rumah Tahfiz in Indonesia have experienced quite significant developments. This da'wah educational institution strives to produce students with good abilities in reading the Qur'an, hafiz and Islamic knowledge. Rumah Tahfiz Center (RTC) said 1.200 Rumah Tahfiz were opened yearly. In 2022, 23 regional coordinators will continue to look for seeds to memorize the Al-Quran in Indonesia. Most regional coordinators are in Java, with 13 representative offices, followed by Sumatra, with five representatives, and Kalimantan, with two representatives. The rest are spread across several regions in Indonesia. 1 Rumah Tahfiz, in the future, will continue to grow, seeing the high interest of parents to have children memorized the Qur'an at an early age. 2 Previous studies have found that parents have prepared since the child was still in the womb. 3 The rapid opening of Rumah Tahfiz in Indonesia has yet to be followed by good institutional management. Not a few Rumah Tahfiz have closed after several years of space. One of the obstacles found is financial institutions that need to be planned more carefully. Operations and the needs of the memorizers of the Qur'an are taken into account over time. Finance has been a crucial factor in organizational sustainability for a long time. 4  Crisis times such as the Covid-19 pandemic, where the Rumah Tahfiz Foundation's owner experienced problems, affected the institution's sustainability.
This case occurred at the RTI, Bengkulu City, Indonesia. Since it opened in 2019 to 2020, the payment of teacher salaries, food needs for students in the dormitory, and other operations will be charged to the foundation's finances. After one year of the Covid-19, the foundation is experiencing budgetary difficulties, primarily to cater for the students in the dormitory. The foundation invited all the guardians of the students for deliberations, and several discussions were conducted via Whatsapp.
Thus, this article explains in more detail the efforts made by Rumah Tahfiz Impian (RTI) as a da'wah organization in the field of education to get out of the crisis. This can be achieved by answering two questions: 1) How is the activity at the RTI; 2) What are the sources of funding after experiencing a crisis; 3) What are the key success factors of Rumah Tahfiz in facing the crisis.
This article is interesting and important because it explains the best practices of da'wah institutions that find solutions for sustainability and fill in gaps in past studies. We found 21 articles published in the last five years. After the review found three themes: 1) five articles connected with the focus of organizational management 6 ; 2) five articles on technology 7 ; and 3) educational themes or tahfiz learning strategies dominate with 11 articles. 8 Even though there are five articles on the institutional management of Rumah Tahfiz, the theme of the discussion has not yet touched on the financial side, which impacts sustainability.

B. Research Methods
The primary data in this article comes from natural research in the field.
Researchers use two types of data: primary and secondary. Preliminary data were obtained from in-depth interviews and non-participant observation. Three activity programs are implemented to realize this rumah tahfiz's goals.
The first is the memorizers' al-Qur'an program, categorized into grades A and B.
Grade A is given to students who live in dormitories without being interrupted by school or work activities. The target for this grade is one year for teacher training with Islamic materials and six months for memorizing the Qur'an. Grade B is dedicated to part-time students for two years-one year for learning the Qur'an and one year for teacher training. The second is the Qur'an teacher school program.
Santri is guided to understand the Qur'an and supporting sciences: the science of recitation, matan jazari, tuhfatu athfal, fiqh, learning the Ottoman method and so on.
The third is an additional weekly and monthly program, such as reading Surah al- The third problem is that permanent donors or Santri guardians experience difficulties, especially at the start of the pandemic. Donations from the guardians of the students are considered the most to boost the finances of the Rumah Tahfiz.
When these donations are hampered, financial instability occurs. IN-03 explained that some students' guardians only transferred money for a few months. Some things could be neater in payments, such as in August they don't send money, but in September, they send it again. Of these three main problems, the foundation held an internal meeting with the decision to ask for help from the parents of the students in the form of taking turns delivering side dishes and vegetables every day.
"We don't want to burden the parents of the students. We know that most of them have passion and concern for religious knowledge but have difficulties in terms of costs. We're trying to help. It's just that this condition requires us to fight together. We have a meeting with the parents of the students. Alhamdulillah, no one objected they intended this as their alms for all the memorizers of the Qur'an" 16 The program then was a picket delivery of side dishes and vegetables. At the same time, the students cook the rice. Alternately all parents of students get their turn or are called pickets. In early 2022, the financial condition of the Santri 14 Information from IN-06 on January 12, 2023 in person at the RTI 15 Information from IN-07 on January 12, 2023 in person at the RTI 16 Information from IN-05 on February 02, 2023 in person at the RTI guardians began to improve. This can be seen from the increased cash income of the RTI. The leadership of the foundation decided to hand over the money to the parents of the students to help buy-side dishes and vegetables. The principle is not burdensome, and parents are considered to cook food for students. The manager makes a picket list between side dishes every week. Parents of students from the environment around the RTI provide information to other public members. It turned out that the community welcomed the program and helped.

Picture 2. Notices and schedules of side dishes and vegetables
Source: Whatsapp Group of side dishes and vegetables Santri parents who do not provide ready-to-eat side dishes and vegetables can deliver basic necessities: rice, eggs, oil, meat, and others. Before submitting, parents inform via Whatsapp Group. The most widely distributed staple food is rice.
The teacher has directed this because Santri will cook rice daily based on the picket schedule. IN-09 expressed experience that money can also be given as a substitute for side dishes or rice. The many types of gifts to RTI have provided unburdensome opportunities for donors, students' guardians, parents, and the surrounding community. IN-03 emphasized that donors have no restrictions or difficulties in donating, so all types of assistance are accepted.

Cost Sharing as Key Factors
RTI is a non-formal educational institution whose vision is to produce memorizers of the Qur'an for the glory of Islam in Bengkulu. As a da'wah institution, RTI does not charge fees for Santri. Operational costs are obtained from monthly donations from the foundation, students' guardians, and independent donors.
Porter and Kramer stated that non-profit organizations waive fees for free raiders from the collective. 17  Fourth is the existence of information disclosure factors. Information disclosure is defined as a form of organizational transparency to the public.
Information disclosure affects people's decision-making to donate. Septriani's research states that transparency and accountability significantly affect the collection of zakat, infaq and alms funds. Furthermore, transparency is a factor that substantially influences Muzaki loyalty to the Amil Zakat Institution. 24 This aligns with the reporting system at RTI where the administrators provide information on the total donations collected through social media such as WhatsApp Groups, WhatsApp stories and Instagram. So that donors can find out information about donations and as a form of transparency by RTI management.

D. Conclusion
This article has explained the activities, sources of donations, and key factors for da'wah organizations' sustainability in contex of the Rumah Tahfiz. A valuable finding is that cost-sharing turned out to be the key to the success of RTI in getting out of the crisis that arose due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Cooperation practices can resolve the inability of donors to continue to donate. This can be done because the culture of Indonesian society, including Islamic teachings, supports solving common problems. The cost-sharing policy that is implemented such as the picket program between side dishes, the delivery of groceries or money, as well as other nonbinding donations. Cases of opening Rumah Tahfiz without proper planning and management are believed to have occurred in various regions. Thus, these findings provide a solution to get out of the pressing daily needs of Santri. Unfortunately, this study only reveals one best practice case where the environment supports the realization of a cost-sharing strategy. Future research needs to explain the exact problem through different environmental contexts. This disclosure is considered to provide new insights for academics and practitioners of da'wah organizations for sustainability.