Which countries still charge for the literature, and what are the rates...

AuldSoul

Which countries still charge for the literature, and what are the rates in USD?

AuldSoul

Legolas

WOW....Do they charge money in some places?

I never knew that!

Ha, but I guess that it doesn't surprise me!

I thought it went like this- When Jimmy Swaggart was hauled into court and the WT (and others) filed as 'friend of' because the case would have direct bearing on WT sales due to having to pay taxes on the sales of wt's literature sold door to door. In countries like US with these tax laws there was an announcement that all literature would be given freely but accepting 'donations' and even still recommending $ amounts. In other countries where there are not these kinds of tax laws the wt's today are still being 'sold' in the traditional sense of the word. Today in the US as I understand it (correct me if wrong please) the rank & file pay for the wt's & books then try to 'sell' or colllect 'donations' for said literature. If a householder gives more than the recommended 'donation price' the jw is supposed to turn that money back over to the hell. I think that' s how it goes.

blondie

I don't think the WTS charges in any countries charge now, AuldSoul, first the US and then gradually all the branches fell in line with the "simplification." It is ironic that they started first in the US where JWs had the funds to pay and ended last in countries where JWs were extremely poor.

Blondie

G Money

I thought it was phased out in 2000, at least when I was abroad it was.

Lot

Hi Carla,

Just for clarification on the "donation arrangement", there is no suggested donation amount. Whatever a householder donates is to be turned over to the Society. When you pick up your literature, you are under no obligation to donate then, though I noticed that several did put money into the box for the world wide work when they picked up there magazines etc. (I was the literature servant). Most follow the practice of donating once a month for the kingdom hall fund and the world wide work. According to the instructions of the Society, this is not related to any money that you receive in the field and you should not deduct what you have contributed from what you receive from householders. This was a big issue in our congregation when this change took place in 1990, so that is why I remember the specific instructions from the Society so well. Of course, there is no way to tell how many people follow these instructions to the letter. I would guess that a fair number do deduct what they contribute from what they receive in the field. It would be interesting to hear what others have done in this regard.

Lot

carla

I know people (non jw's) who say they request a 1.00 donation for wt's and/or a book at the door. So I don't know how it really works I guess.

ocsrf

Simplification...LOL

When ever the Society makes changes they always put their spin on the reason for the change. We all know if had to do with Taxes. That would explain why they stopped it first in the richest country in the world. It was either that or loose their tax exempt status which would cost them way more than just the slow down in contributions.

I suspect this has lot to do with why we bring our food to the conventions now instead of meals being provided for a suggested price. Personally, this was one of the best things that happened, no more lines and better food to my liking.

OC

R6Laser

I know people (non jw's) who say they request a 1.00 donation for wt's and/or a book at the door. So I don't know how it really works I guess.

They don't request anything when going door to door. The way it was done was to tell the person that if they wanted to donate they could do so if they wanted and any amount they thought would be appropriate. If the person would not donate anything he or she would still get the literature.

Now on the Hall it was a little different. One time they had a local needs talk were the elder talked about the donation system. The elder tried to compare the literature to current magazines or books you would buy at a local bookstore. He said if you go to a book store to buy a bible, how much it would cost, and that's a way to kind of measure when donating for literature at the KH.

ocsrf

He said if you go to a book store to buy a bible, how much it would cost, and that's a way to kind of measure when donating for literature at the KH.

Elder's are great, I would love to hire a PI and see what they donate. I would guess it would fall way short of book store prices. And it they do donate that much, they are dummer than they look. Not saying it isn't costly to print and distribute literature, but most of that cost is already born by the R&F. Sales and distribution are one of the most expensive parts of any business. Sales people in most organizations are generally very well compensated for what they do.

OC

Which countries still charge for the literature, and what are the rates...

Share this