The huge drop in contributions is, in my opinion, the greatest secret in this organization - and ever naive and loyal Witlesses are eager to deny it.
There is a huge multi-million dollar Assembly Hall project planned for the Southeast USA. Price tag a shade under $9 million.
Project was approved at a special circuit-wide elders-only meeting maybe 2-1/2 years ago. Project was supposed to be completed in 3 years. They got the go-ahead because enough of the elders were convinced their congregations would pony up the contributions.
Currently, less than 1/2 the money has been collected. The land sits there idle.
Each month, the Assembly Hall commitee sends out an "encouraging report" showing the level of contributions. It inches up by the 10's of thousands each month - at that rate it won't get built this century.