This document provides a descriptive study of factors that determine the effectiveness of managing zakat maal (charitable alms on wealth) in the city of Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. It finds that the effectiveness of zakat maal management in Kendari is very low in terms of potential exploration, number of recipients served, accuracy of distribution, and success of economic empowerment programs. Factors contributing to low effectiveness include low awareness of zakat obligations, lack of deposits through formal institutions, coarse data calculations, low public trust in institutions, incomplete recipient data and small allocations that do not match needs.