Zakat institutions are responsible for managing zakat from collection to distribution. An in-depth understanding of the management of zakat institutions is vital in order to understand the process of managing zakat funds. To date, there has been rising concern from the public on how zakat funds are distributed to the eligible recipients. The public are curious why, notwithstanding the rising amount of zakat collections, poverty rates among Muslims are still high. Thus, this paper aims to explore the problem by gathering the views of zakat recipients on the zakat distribution system. For data collection, questionnaires were distributed to selected participants in the East Coast. The results showed that most of the recipients were not fully satisfied with the management of zakat distribution, specifically with regards to the amount of zakat received and customer service. Thus, it is crucial for zakat institutions to improve their management system to earn positive reviews from the public. It is hoped that this study can assist zakat institutions in improving their management system and dispelling the negative view of them held by the public.