Do Individual JWs Pay For The Publications They Distribute?

by Joe Grundy 37 Replies latest jw friends

  • Fangorn
    Fangorn

    I don't ever recall seeing the price printed on the magazines. Is my memory faulty or is that just wrong?

  • garybuss
  • vitty
    vitty

    Even though its suppose to be "donations" the congregation are sent a "bill" for how many mags and books they order and this has to be paid for by the cong or they dont get their order.

    Or so I was told.

    I think they are asked to give by a resolution. it goes like this "brothers we as a body would like to contribute a figure of :::::: to the world wide work every month , if you agree will you put your hands up" So everyone does

    no one realizes this was a figure sent to them by the branch and ive never seen anyone not put their hands up cos they just think they are being generous ahhhhhh

  • Dismembered
    Dismembered

    Greetings Joe

    When I was "mad-gazine servant" some used to pay for their stuff some did not. When all of a sudden they made the change to "donation" basis, hardly anyone paid for their stuff. That's why Watchtower is slowly going broke.

    Dismembered

  • blondie
    blondie
    Even though its suppose to be "donations" the congregation are sent a "bill

    The only time this happens is when the donations to the "worldwide work" do not match the "value" of the literature that is being ordered through the congregation.

    Example:

    Donations to WWW: $400

    Literature ordered: $800

    The WTS will send a little note to the BOE about the discrepancy.

    The congregations I attended never received such a note since their WWW donations were pretty much in line with the literature ordered.

    Blondie

  • Elsewhere
    Elsewhere

    The racket if very simple:

    The WTS says that all literature is available on a "free" donation basis and they more than happy to supply you with all the "free" literature you can carry. HOWEVER, if your donations are not "sufficient" in the eyes of the ones handing it out, they reserve the right to deny you the "free" literature".

    Sure, the literature is "free", but that does not mean the WTS is obligated to give it to anyone who requests... the WTS will only distribute it out to those with a history of giving "sufficient donations".

    I gotta hand it to them, its a great SCAM to avoid paying taxes.

  • XBEHERE
    XBEHERE
    The Central African Republic branch wrote: "This means that anyone, no matter what his or her financial situation may be, can have the necessary printed material to become a disciple of Christ. This arrangement has been greatly appreciated by both the publishers and the public." Indonesia said: "Accordingly, the brothers looked for those interested in reading our publications more than those who could afford the printing cost."

    Blondie I hate it when the WT tries make something that was totally done for other reasons seem to benefit the R&F..

    I stopped donating for the lit many yrs ago and stopped asking for one from "householders" even longer ago.

  • cathyk
    cathyk

    I find the "donation arrangement" annoying, because I remember the good old days when the WT put out a catalog of their publications with the prices clearly marked. One could then choose the books or tracts one wanted, write a check, and get a box of books in return. The only bother about that was that a visit from a JW followed shortly thereafter. They wanted to see how you liked the books.

    What's funny is the number of (presumably) new JWs who get miffed at the sale of older publications. I have to point out to them that many of the older books, etc., were *sold* door to door. Gary's pic of the magazine bag is nice; a good scan of an old catalog works wonders, too. I'll have to dig through my stuff and find one.

    Cathy

  • Dismembered
    Dismembered

    Greetings Elsewhere

    HOWEVER, if your donations are not "sufficient" in the eyes of the ones handing it out, they reserve the right to deny you the "free" literature".

    When they made the change to donations ( in the minds of many FREE) it angered me to no end that peoples magazine orders went up, they ordered all kinds of bound volumes, and the ones with computers ordered all the cd's and never paid for them! I gave my family an edict to NOT take anything unless we or I had the money to give them to pay for it on the spot, while others were literature pigs, who hoarded everything. Then there were those who'd have their standing order of say, 10 W&A for each issue and never pick the damn things up so I had to go chase them around the KH, otherwise I'd run out of room for storing them. Which if you think about it actually promoted not paying for the stuff, in that, they'd have it handed to them. After a while I just didn't give a schnip, and finally said enough is enough let some one else have this god given privilege. So I took my ball, my glove my bat and went home.

    I also had the privilege of doing the accounts, and collecting the monies for the unpaid for literature. Most of the time, the only thing in the worldwide work donation boxes were pocket lint and moths.

    Dismembered

  • Gander
    Gander

    I never paid a cent to the Kingdom Hall fund through my decades of attendance. The moment the donation arrangement began, I began receiving literature completely free. "You have received free, give free" is my motto. Of course, I have since stopped giving the literature freely as I refuse to be the vector for the mental infection of new inocent vulnerable individuals.

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