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branch of the country’s second-largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah, in Gunungpring, Muntilan, Central Java, is not a key branch, making up less than 10 percent of the population of the subdistrict of around 13,000. Yet, it has been acknowledged as one of the most successful branches this year, thanks to its robust business activities.

What the Muhammadiyah Gunungpring branch developed was very simple: It established a school shuttle service to pick up students of the elementary school it runs. Muhammadiyah is well known for its social enterprises, running educational institutes as well as hospitals for its members and non members.

The shuttle business developed rapidly. Starting with only two minivans in 2009, the branch now operates 18 minivans and contributes Rp 26 million (US$1,710) in revenue per month to the branch, which has some 1,000 members. But the benefits go beyond money.

“In 2009, before we ran the shuttle service, we only had 50 to 70 students. Now we have 700 [elementary school] students,” branch head Rohmat Abdul Ghani told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the Muhammadiyah national branch expo 2018 over the weekend.

The Gunungpring branch also runs a junior high school with around 300 students, as well as a play group and kindergarten with 400 students.

Following its success, the branch has recently developed a senior high school targeting students from middle class and upper middle class families. The school has just started operating this academic year with 13 students.

As well as creating new jobs, the shuttle service has apparently attracted parents to send their children to study at the schools.

“Many of our students live outside of the subdistrict [...] as far as 30 kilometers from the school, such as in Kulonprogo and Sleman in Yogyakarta, and Salaman,” Ghani said.

A similar story came from Muhammadiyah’s Babat branch in Lamongan, East Java, which is developing a residential compound on a 5-hectare land plot in Puncak Wangi. The branch is offering 370 houses at a price tag of between Rp 110 million and Rp 180 million.

“We have so far sold 100 houses,” Muhammadiyah Babat branch deputy chairman M Faishal, said.

Faishal said the branch had allocated the profits to building a new hospital in the district. It is already running a hospital, which is planned to be transformed into a hospital for women and children in the near future.

The Babat branch also runs schools, an orphanage and sharia financial institution Baitut Tamwil Muhammadiyah, which has a total asset equivalent of Rp 11 billion.

Chairman of Muhammadiyah’s Branches Development Institute (LPCR) Ahmad Norma Permata said a study conducted by the LPCR had revealed that the best performing branches were those with strong business programs.

“We continue to encourage the managements of branches to develop their business units,” Norma said.