Proir to th Donation Arrangement

by concerbedbf 23 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  rebel8

  denies that they have ever sold their publication and are not door to door saleman

  We had to pay for the mags and we were allowed to ask a certain price to reimburse ourselves.

  When I became a fake regular pioneer, I got a discount off the asking price, but we were told to still ask the same price from the householders. IOW we were making a profit, albeit a small one. The mumbo jumbo rationalization for the profit was that we pioneers could use the extra 10 cents to put into our gas tanks. We were NOT allowed to tell the householders about our discount. We were instructed to lie and say that was the price we paid.

  PS-This is what we were told in pioneer school. I said it bothered my conscience to be dishonest to the householders, even if it was only over 10 cents....I quoted --"faithful in the small things"...I got counseled for being uncooperative.
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  Fe2O3Girl

  I remember before the change to donations that there was strong counsel never to give the literature away as it devalued it.

  After the change from a cover price to a donation arrangement, placements of magazines went down dramatically. When we were charging for the magazines, people would take them to get rid of us politely, but they didn't want to just take the magazines (don't want to appear interested, or obliged?).

  I seem to recall a poster here who was familiar with the printing industry who said that the biggest cost in printing is labour - which is effectively free for the WT, and that the cost of ink and paper would be minimal for the volumes printed. So it was not really true to say that the cover charge covered the cost of printing - well it did, and more!
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  GermanXJW

  IIRC, there was one yearbook that in 2000 the "donation arrangement" was effective worldwide.
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  Bonnie_Clyde

  The magazines were 5 cents in the US back in the 50's, and I don't think it changed till the 60's. When I pioneered, I only had to pay 1 cent per magazine so I made 4 cents on each magazine I placed. I never felt I was making money as I still had to put gas in my car. I think publishers paid 3 cents. We did not leave the magazines unless the people came up with the money. When I worked unassigned territory, I remember accepting items other than money from people, including eggs, to "cover the cost of printing." Subscriptions for one year were $1.00 each, and it seems like there was a 6-months' subscription for 50 cents.

  I remember one day when I was working with the CO's wife, the householder took the magazines out of her hand and closed the door without paying. She knocked on the door again to tell him that the magazines were 5 cents each.
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  hambeak

  Ah the memories I was a regular pioneer and got the mags for ..01 each and the books for a dime The contribution of a nickel each and then up to a quarter as a pioneer you kept the profit to offset your expenses since you only worked part time and had very little money. Now the Awake is published once a month which I found out not to long ago and you can't subscribe any more
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  jayhawk1

  Does anybody remember how much a year subscription for Watchtower and Awake was before they stopped charging for it?
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  jayhawk1

  Hambeak, oh yes, they was so nice to the pioneers, reduced prices in literature. Didn't they even give out a card to present to the literature attendent for the reduced prices? I think my mom had one of those and was even able to use it for purchasing the food tickets at District Conventions.

  Does anybody else remember those food tickets? Each stamp was 10 cents and you could buy them in books of $5 each. Around here they did away with the ticket books around 1987 or 1988 and went to strait cash at the food service booths.
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  blondie

  *** km 3/90 p. 3 Announcements ***

  One-year subscriptions to semimonthly editions are $5.00
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  OnTheWayOut

  Older issues of Our Kingdom Ministry are full of prices in the literature presentations

  ***

  km 2/90 p. 4 par.4 Presenting the Good News—With the God’s Word Book***

  What can we say when offering the book? After a friendly greeting, we might call attention to Proverbs 14:12 to show that successful living requires wise direction. Wrong direction can be calamitous. Then read Proverbs 2:6, 7 to show that Jehovah provides true wisdom. We could reason with the householder regarding the need to turn to the Bible to find godly wisdom. Then we could say: "This publication shows that the Bible is a reliable source of sound advice on problems people face. Please note what is stated here in paragraph 2 on page 5. [Read paragraph 2, and if time permits, read paragraph 4.] This publication will help you appreciate that the Bible is indeed God’s Word and that it contains practical guidance in all matters of life. This book is yours for a contribution of just $1.00."

  You can find plenty of examples. Usually at least one in every older issue.
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  OnTheWayOut

  Go to this letter to the Body of elders, from reexamine.org

  http://www.reexamine.org/BOE/1990-02-09.1.pdf