Watchtower targeting children’s ice cream money, and hungry old ladies is crass and lacks empathy, by 8 out of touch men, who are clearly well fed themselves. But it’s indicative of the desperation setting in at Watchtower, because they are really struggling to fund their spending.
Historically Watchtower didn’t need to tithe because they operated the largest publishing organisation in the world in the twentieth century. They didn’t need to tithe or emphasise donations because they had plenty of money. That came to an abrupt end in 1990 when they stop charging for the literature. However they were fortunate, because they had invested their profits from publishing in New York real estate. That gave them a second wind because they were able to sell off their property assets in the 2010s to keep the organisation afloat. But crunch time arrived and difficult decisions had to be made, in particular in 2015. Would they beg for more donations, or cut back spending? They tried both, but they are still short of covering their costs. So what will they do next?