All we are seeing "evidence" of is WT rebranding to a .org and changing direction with a redirecting of funds to new projects.
The current financial crisis of Watchtower in historical context (part 1)
by slimboyfat 165 Replies latest members private
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WeatherLover
This is a great thread, and I hope you're correct!
I remember a few months ago it was announced at the meeting that the new yearbook would be released electronically sometime in October. Does anyone know if that's still the case? I'm having a hard time waiting to see the changes in the numbers.
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notsurewheretogo
I wouldn't say the fact the GB rely on accountants/experts is a sing of mismanagement...they are a printing company...every publishing/printing operation in the world is doing what they are doing because of electronic format.
Every printing company in the last 5 years has been consolidating and cost cutting because they cannot replace their income from print.
It's just, they, like many printing firms just do not know what to do or how to react so they tighten up the belts.
You make some good points SBF and I agree with a lot of it but I work in the publishing industry and what I see the WT doing is the same as 99% of publishing companies all round the world.
Cash flow issues - yes...but their demise is a long way off yet.
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Fisherman
whereas Jackson’s comments will surely go down in Watchtower history as a momentous blunder.
I listened to the questions and answers very carefully and I disagree. Jackson's examination by Angus was under a legal setting. I think that Jackon was magnificent in his responses to the RC; an attorney could not have done better. -But what do I know.
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sparky1
The Governing Body's new 'business model' is right under your nose and you have missed it completely. At one time, the Jehovah's Witness religion a.k.a. Watchtower Bible and Tract Society was a publishing company selling religion through books, pamphlets and magazines. They also functioned as a 'savings and loan' company in that they lent money to congregations to build Kingdom Halls, charged them interest and then relent the money back to another congregation. They supplemented their income through investments, assembly 'at cost' donations, wills, direct donations from congregations and on and on and on. The problem with being a 'savings and loan' operation is that eventually your Kingdom Hall loan is payed off and no more cash flow for the 'mother organization'. Next, publishing of books and literature falls out of favor with the 'internet age' and you now have nothing tangible to 'sell' your religion through. Whats a Governing Body to do? Switch gears, of course. Now, instead of demonizing the internet, they embrace it. Start your own website as your direct portal to the average witness. This weans publishers off of printed material and into cyberspace to get their 'spiritual food'. Get rid of most of your printing and the associated costs of printing magically disappear. Now your printing, labor and shipping costs are cut to a minimum. Cut out middle management and other supports services and these expenses disappear , also. Now they have eliminated expenses and labor intensive production but have lost the income from 'selling' their printed material. Easy fix, says an advisor to the Governing Body! Lets become 'Slum Lords' and the new 'Golden Age' of real estate cash flow falls into their lap. Now instead of giving mortgages to congregations that can be paid off at will and thereby losing that cash flow, they become a leasing company with PERPETUAL cash flow. Every single building that has the JW.ORG logo attached to it has now become a permanent stream of income. They still have income from investments, assembly donation income, wills, congregation donations to the Worldwide Work and on and on. They are in a 'cash flow' bind right now I believe because they were overeager in implementing this new cash flow system and they have to readjust the pace in which they move ahead with their adjusted business model. The product that they sell remains the same. They are still selling 'religion and salvation'. The cost of purchasing this salvation has shifted even more onto the backs of the average publisher without them even realizing it. Jehovah's Witnesses are not going away any time soon. They are just going through transitional business readjustments and when the dust settles they will be just fine.
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Fisherman
Cash flow issues
There is a whale of a difference between cash flow and loosing money. Contributions wt only source of income at present, don't cover wt expenses at present; the money is not coming in. That is not a cash flow issue. Cash flow is when you are making money but it is tied up or customers aren't paying their bills on time, etc but you are making money. WT is not a rinky dink, small potatos book printing company. It is an international entity and it needs lots and lots of money to operate. I agree with sparky though regarding payment of mortgages. Problem is that at the end of the month Cong expenses are not being paid by the donations. And yes, as I have posted previously, I think that wt will manage ( but only if God is its backer) but I am looking at things from SBF evidence and his conclusion is sequitur in my opinion.
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sparky1
Fisherman, are you saying that the Watchtower Society is losing money? I don't think so. I think that they are using 'creative bookkeeping' at this time to convince themselves and the average publisher that they need more money to get their Real Estate scheme 'off the ground' as quickly as possible. If you have read my other posts, you would see that my opinion is that their cash flow is not meeting their financial projections on paper (cost plus) but that they have enough cash coming in to make all their payments. They are short of cash right now because they are building faster than their return on investment. When the income stream from these newly built Kingdom Halls gets into their financial pipeline and the new Vatican in Warwick no longer drains cash, things will stabilize. Without trying to sound like a complete know it all, I have owned and managed a complicated small business for almost 40 years. In that time, I have had many intelligent mentors and have been privy to the inner workings of more than one business and have learned much about business cycles and operation from some very capable people.
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Fisherman
Sparky, I don't know about wt investments and how much they return assuming they have investments. I also figure that wt financed Warwick with the money from the sale of the properties and maybe there are billionaire JW that I don't know about that are financing the WT. What I observe is that the donations collected don't cut it and wt can't live off the money from the sale of the properties for long if that is what they are doing. They need a source of income to finance the wt. I don't see it. KH contributions don't cover KH expenses either. At the end of the month, who pays for the electric bill when there is a deficit? I didn't read your other posts. I'll have to take a look.
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sparky1
Fisherman, you are making 'global assertions' that "donations collected don't cut it." and that "KH contributions don't cover KH expenses either." Where is your evidence? Neither you nor I have access to the financial records of the Watchtower Society or of every Kingdom Hall on the face of the earth. Just because Steven Lett says: "There is more money going out than is coming in", does not mean that he is making that statement with complete and full disclosure. As I have said in another post, Corporate Manager Lett may be using financial obfuscation to 'claim' that there is more money going out than is coming in over and against their financial projections. Any good corporation worth it's 'salt' projects yearly for expenses (running the Watchtower Society), growth and expansion( new hall, etc.) and profit or a financial cushion. They may indeed be making their operational expenses, funding their expansion expenses but not getting any 'gravy' on the income. Therefore, a company man with no conscience and loyalty to the company could make the claim that 'there is more money going out, than coming in' because on paper there is a shortfall of revenue over and against the projected revenue stream. You are taking the Governing Body members claims at face value. I think that that is a mistake. Not only are they religious leaders but they are also corporate heads and must balance out both roles. As I have said on another post, since none of us has any access to the inner workings of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, so anything that anyone posts on this subject (including me!) is pure speculation, conjecture and opinion. Having said that, my opinion is that the Governing Body has overstated the financial woes of their organization in order to increase cash flow to match their projection.
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Fisherman
Sparky, I will have to read your posts. And maybe WT has saved money from before and also has big returns on investments or some hidden source of income. But otherwise I agree with SBF, all of the wt cuts etc. indicate financial problems, and accounts reports and my observations on how wt is handling money lately indicate they have financial problems. It is true that Warwick is very expensive and maybe it's as you say that it is because of Warwick. But I just don't see the money in contributions. I don't believe they are stealing it. They are true believers. And I don't see any other funding besides the contributions. And I don't think that they would cut back -and do what with the money? I am not convinced that the contributions are cutting it. I don't have documentation but If you can debunk SBF, I would like to see it.