by slimboyfat 165 Replies latest members private
The Watchtower can choose to sell their propaganda, weather that's books, movies or Caleb Cartoons. There's nothing stopping the from doing so other than their dislike to paying taxes.
It is possible that the GB are managing the finances. Having to sack Bethelite volunteers, .missionaries and Special Pioneers when your business is to make new recruits sounds like the sort of mess these simpletons can be blamed for.
Slim here is another scenario
That most of their wealth is probably tied up in long term investment which they do not want to touch or have been advised not to use for everyday expenses if they can help it. Most financial advisers will advise their clients to make long term investments. So the GB saying that more donations are needed may mean that they have simply been advised to use money generated from everyday life to fund everyday life and that if they don't they will go out of business pretty quickly.
slimboyfat: There is a difference between saying that cutbacks began in the 1990s and saying that more was produced in 1990 than was produced at any later date. You've switched one for the other and refuted the made up claim. Also remembering there were around 4 million JWs in 1990 compared with more than double that, over 8 million now.
Yeah, but I choose those years carefully...
1990 because this was the last year that they charged for the magazines in the US
1990 = Annual 621,120,000 magazines printed (32 pages)
3.8 million JWs = 163 magazines each per year
2005 because this was the last year of the full 32 pages x 12 issues x 2 magazines printing
2005 = Annual 1,182,744,000 magazines printed (32 pages)
6.4 million JWs = 184 magazines each per year
The WT were actually printing more magazines per publisher, but without the 'fixed' income, just 'donations'
What was the GB then expecting to do in the future?... Check out the 2005 Yearbook, pages 22 to 25.
During 2003/4 the GB bought and installed not one, but SEVEN new MAN Roland Lithoman printing presses - each press is 133 feet [40 metres] long.
Why did they do that? Those seven presses alone could print ALL the magazines needed during 2005 working on just a single shift, Monday to Friday, 45 weeks-a-year (with 7 weeks down-time).
But then 2006 came.... and the Awake printing was halfed (one 32 page mag-a-month) and the Watchtower was reduced to one public edition-a-month, and a 'low' printed number for the monthy study edition.
I believe the current problems stem from the GB over-stretching themselves between 1990 to 2005, while relying on donations.
The sales tax issue in the US was not the same as the government shutting down the WT. All that case was about was essentially a church (not the WT) selling items for profit and using their not for profit status to avoid paying sales taxes. This is the problem I have with religious entities. They think they can engage in commerce and yet be exempt from paying their fair share. It's one thing to exempt them from straight profits from donations or property taxes (although I wish that were not the case). It's quite another thing to allow them to sell items such as books, videos or whatever, and not require them to collect the same taxes that a non-religious entity would have to collect.
If the WT had chosen to, they could have easily set up a system to collect and remit sales taxes. They made a strategic error to not do so counting on the same level of donations or higher and it didn't pan out.
Ruby456........you understand the situation perfectly! This is exactly what I believe is going on from a business standpoint. I would only disagree with your contention that most of their wealth is tied up in long term investments. It would probably be more accurate to say that a significant amount of their NET WORTH is tied up in long term financial vehicles in just the stock market alone. But your statement, "So the GB saying that more donations are needed may mean that they have simply been advised to use money generated from everyday life to fund everyday life and that if they don't they will go out of business pretty quickly", is SPOT on! They are only telling the sheep part of the financial story. They are using 'accountant/financial jargon' the same way they use 'God/religious jargon' to push their own agenda. I applaud your perceptive understanding of 'part of the puzzle.'
"So the way for WATCHTOWER to start turning a profit again we've identified is......selling advertising space."
"What implications would it have for tax ......status?" - slimboyfat
Good question! According to the IRS guidelines for religions, selling advertising space in 'magazines, journals and religious organization websites' is considered an 'unrelated trade or business activity'. So if WATCHTOWER went this route, they would be liable for a UBIT or unrelated business income tax.
The WT were actually printing more magazines per publisher, but without the 'fixed' income, just 'donations'
I don't see how your post shows that wt was making money by printing more magazines. After voluntary donations was the price for the mags, all SBF evidence suggests that producing the wt became an expense but wt produces wts because that is what they do, and more and more and more of them because that is wt message to the world at any expense. The presses wt bought to produce more wt mags reduced the cost of production of wt mags -meaning less expense. GB made no mistake in flooding the world with wts, they want to publish their message. What happened years later is the digital era and digital literature is less of an expense. The financial problem is that wt is not being financed from publishing its literature. Producing literature is an expense that is not being covered by the donations -from what I see.
...while relying on donations....
WT leaders are true believers, they don't think in terms of cause and effect relying on donations. They trust in God. They will do everything legal to finance wt but if they don't perceive God's blessing in terms of money, wt will conclude that it is time to stop.
True believers - yes. Which exactly why they will go on and on and on, past all points of reason into whatever hole they end up in. There could be no money coming in and they would still find a way.of interpreting that as God's blessing.
(Edit: I made this post yesterday. It's only showing up now. This often happens)
They used to make money by producing tons of literature very cheaply and selling it for a profit. That was their business model.
What's their new way of making money? One short sentence as above would suffice.
You made a lot of points but you didn't answer that basic question.
