Interrelations Between Communication Strategies, Social Capital, and Community Participation in Islamic Educational Institutions: A Case Study of PPT Nurul Musthofa Tabalong

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the interaction between communication strategies, social capital, and public participation in an Islamic educational institution, using the Nurul Musthofa Integrated Islamic Boarding School in Tabalong, South Kalimantan, as a case study. The research is motivated by increasingly intense competition among Islamic educational institutions in the digital era and by the limited number of studies that examine planned, integrated, and long-term communication practices that are explicitly oriented toward social engagement and community participation. This study employs a qualitative approach with a case study design through in-depth interviews with pesantren leaders, media teams, and community figures, participant observation, and analysis of communication and promotional media documentation. The theoretical framework combines Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) to examine the integration of face-to-face communication channels, religious activities, social media, and community networks; Rogers’ diffusion of innovation theory to explain the role of religious opinion leaders in disseminating messages; and Putnam’s social capital theory to understand how trust, networks, and norms of reciprocity are mobilized into concrete forms of participation. The findings reveal a hybrid, IMC-based communication strategy that combines charismatic preaching in religious study groups, digital communication via Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp, and socio-religious events such as student graduations and large-scale religious gatherings. The interaction between these communication strategies and existing social capital increases the visibility of the pesantren, the number of new students, financial and infrastructural support, and broader community participation. Furthermore, communication practices are positioned as instruments of da’wah and social empowerment because they are consistently linked to values of charity, education, and religious collaboration. The study recommends a community-based IMC model that maintains religious authority as opinion leaders, strengthens internal media capacity, and develops a structured calendar of public activities to sustain participation, making the model replicable for other Islamic educational institutions.