Excerpt from the article entitled ”The Silver Is Mine, and the Gold Is Mine” taken from the November 1, 2007 Watchtower, pages 22-21:
“WAYS IN WHICH SOME CHOOSE TO GIVE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WORLDWIDE WORKMany set aside, or budget, an amount that they place in the contribution boxes labeled "Contributions for the Worldwide Work—Matthew 24:14."
Each month, congregations forward these amounts to the office of Jehovah’s Witnesses that serves their respective countries. Voluntary donations of money may also be sent directly to Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Attention Treasurer’s Office, 25 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, New York 11201-2483, or to the branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses that serves your country. Checks sent to the above address should be made payable to "Watch Tower." Jewelry or other valuables may be donated as well. A brief letter stating that such items are an outright gift should accompany these contributions.
CONDITIONAL-DONATION TRUST ARRANGEMENTMoney may be placed in trust with Watch Tower for use worldwide. However, upon request the funds will be returned. For more information, please contact the Treasurer’s Office at the address noted above.
CHARITABLE PLANNING
In addition to outright gifts of money, there are other methods of giving to benefit Kingdom service worldwide. These include:
Insurance: Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania may be named as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy or a retirement/pension plan.
Bank Accounts:Bank accounts, certificates of deposit, or individual retirement accounts may be placed in trust for or made payable on death to Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, in accord with local bank requirements.
Stocks and Bonds: Stocks and bonds may be donated to Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania as an outright gift.
Real Estate: Salable real estate may be donated either by making an outright gift or, in the case of residential property, by reserving a life estate to the donor, who can continue to live therein during his or her lifetime. Contact the branch office in your country before deeding any real estate.
Gift Annuity: A gift annuity is an arrangement whereby one transfers money or securities to a designated corporation that is used by Jehovah’s Witnesses. In exchange, the donor, or someone designated by the donor, receives a specified annuity payment every year for life. The donor receives an income-tax deduction for the year in which the gift annuity is established.
Wills and Trusts: Property or money may be bequeathed to Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania by means of a legally executed will, or Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania may be named as beneficiary of a trust agreement. A trust benefiting a religious organization may provide certain tax advantages.
As the term "charitable planning" implies, these types of donations typically require some planning on the part of the donor. To assist individuals desiring to benefit the worldwide work of Jehovah’s Witnesses through some form of charitable planning, a brochure has been prepared in English and Spanish entitled Charitable Planning to Benefit Kingdom Service Worldwide. The brochure was written to provide information on a variety of ways that gifts may be made either now or through a bequest at death. After reading the brochure and conferring with their own legal or tax advisers, many have been able to help support the religious and humanitarian activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide and maximize their tax benefits while doing so. This brochure may be obtained by requesting a copy directly from the Charitable Planning Office.
For more information, you may contact the Charitable Planning Office, either in writing or by telephone, at the address listed below, or you may contact the branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses that serves your country.”
As you can see from the highlighted portions, a significant source of income to the Society comes as a result of someone dying. While this fact alone is rather ironic, the point of this post is that this source translates into a considerable sum.
Take life insurance alone for example:
The crude death rate (total number of deaths per 1000 people) for the whole world is currently about 9.6 per 1000 per year. Current practicing Jehovah’s Witnesses amount to 6,957,852, not counting Memorial attendees, “unbelieving spouses” or others sympathetic enough to contribute in this way. So roughly 66, 795 active Witnesses die per year. Let’s say that 10% of these even have life insurance and let’s say the average amount is a mere $10,000. In my experience Witnesses who do include the Society as their beneficiary usually leave 50% to the Society and 50% to their other loved one(s).
So how does this render out? In life insurance alone the potential annual revenue to the Society is approximately $33,397,500.00 per year. I’m sure you’ll agree that this is no doubt on the conservative side.