I once had an old farmer give me several turkey eggs for the magazines one Saturday morning.
Did people DONATE for the literature when you went out in service?
by BonaFide 32 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
-
cattails
Nope. I never ask anymore. The only times I asked
were when I got to do a presentation on a meeting
night on the current literature placement. Eventhough
I had the whole presentation memorized I still fumbled
it when going door to door so I didn't ask and still don't.
-
doofdaddy
I always had the attitude, How can I charge money for truth?? Receive free, give free. (I know that wtbts always had a price on "truth")
That is still my mantra. When I read New Age stuff that charges thousands for a three day spiritual course I cringe and cry bullshit!
-
OUTLAW
Back in the "Day"..You did`nt donate......It was a "Contribution"..........I could get a 10 cent Contribution for the Awake ..Any where,any time!.............I was a cute kid........................LOL!!...OUTLAW
-
WTWizard
I would mention it occasionally, but rarely if ever got much. Sometimes I would get a dollar for a set of rags, but more often the people were too poor or too stingy to donate anything (I believe that, given repeated exposure, they would donate more generously if they were actually getting value for the rags). And I never pushed the matter--even though I have seen witlesses try pushing the matter, mentioning that it costs money to distribute the crap (I, on the other hand, believed that people would be willing to pay for value).
Of course, I would not fall for the double donation scam. If I did get money for the littera-trash, even at first, I would deduct whatever I got from the householders from whatever I was going to donate for it (which would have been the same as when we were buying it outright). Hey, they were telling us that it was not double donating, and I was going to hold them to it. Eventually, I just quit donating for it outright, just putting in whatever money I got from the householders (if anything, and if not, too damn bad).
-
LouBelle
I used to get donations all the time - sometimes way more than what I'd paid for the book / magazine / brochure ( yes we publishers in South Africa had to pay for our magazines)
I would take this extra money and we'd go for cake and coffee after fieldies.
-
Doubting Bro
I never asked and probably received donations maybe once a year (and I went out every single Sat + other times). I always put whatever I received into the box since that's what the person gave it to me for. Like Undercover said, I used to donate to cover the "cost" - likely higher than the true cost - so I didn't feel the need to ask non-JWs to support the work.
I remember we had one CO who would always really harp on asking for a donation/contribution and would have this exaggerated motion of putting his hand out to the householder. However, I never saw him do that in actual FS, just in demos.
-
snowbird
Some days enough for me to buy groceries and diapers.
Dang snowbird, if I had known that, I would have been in service a whole lot more!
LOL.
People really respect the Bible in my area, plus I had a real cute baby, and I'm not too bad looking myself. Just kidding.
I was serious-minded and sincere; people could detect that, and would roll out the $1, $5, and $10.
Sylvia
-
ohiocowboy
When I was a kid they were still charging for the litterature. The small hard cover books were a quarter. I used to offer them at the doors saying they could have 4 different books for only a dollar! It was fun placing sometimes 4 and 8 books during a day of service, oftentimes when others placed none!!!
-
snowbird
I know, OC.
It was ironic when the lady who "studied" with me couldn't place a thing, and I would help her unload her stuff.
She would be seething with jealousy!
People tell me all the time that they like my voice.
Tee hee hee.
Sylvia