by Honesty 7 Replies latest watchtower scandals
Should The WTBTS Be Held Accountable For Hurricane Katrina Relief Donations even though they direct contributions be noted for 'World Wide Work'?
Should they be reported to the US Government and, if so, for what since they claim the donations will be spent where it will 'do the most good'?
Are they acting in a morally responsible manner by the way they are accepting donations for Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief Efforts?
Yes they should be held accountable
Honesty,
I dont think they can be held accountable because its a voluntary donation. Meaning if someone isnt sure how the momey will be spent, they dont have to donate. It might be that they run into problems because they say that they do do things for relief effort, and take a donation on that assumption. If it can be proven that they do nothing at all, that might be a problem.
They are pretty smart in the way they word their request donations:
I find it disgusting how they take a disaster and turn it into a personal fundraising drive. How is it any different then me going out to my neighbours or co-workers, say that I'm raising money for some cause, then pocket the money myself. Yes, they should be held accountable for it, but will the lemmings following behind the GB ask them for accountablity? I don't think so.
Kwin
A good question
I would like to think they could be held accountable, but I feel that it more the responsibility of the donor to ignore the fact that they ask you to put World Wide Work on your donation and for them to insist/specifically state that you want your donation to go to "The Hurricane Katrina Appeal". They would then be bound by charity law to treat this donation as "Restricted Funding" and this donation would not be able to be used for any other purpose what so ever. This ruling applies in the UK (see Charity Commissioners website) but I should think that other countries must have similar laws.
But then can you imagine the "Good and Faithful Dubs" going against the Elders/Society?
Twinkletoes
Isn't there some kind of law that governs donations made to a charitable cause? Isn't there a group that needs to verify that you collected this money for a specific cause and to verify that the money actually WENT to that cause? Otherwise ANYONE could sit outside of a Wal-Mart and hold out a can to collect money for huricanne victims and then just pocket it at the end of the day. Anyone that would give money with the intention of it going to a charitable cause but is being asked to alter the documentation is very naive and any group that uses a national disaster to garner more donations that will most definitley NOT be going to the victims should be held accountable to the highest degree. They want everyone to mark the donation as "World Wide Work" for a reason, people! So that they don't have to report it to any watchdog agency that makes sure that they aren't scamming people.
I suppose demanding accountability is possible. I found this on the FTC website:
If you believe an organization may not be operating for charitable purposes, is making misleading solicitations or is ignoring requests to be placed on a "do not call" list, contact your state Attorney General, your local consumer protection office or the Federal Trade Commission.
