Cooking the Books

by individuals wife 13 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  individuals wife

  Mulan and Seeker4 got me thinking in the previous thread called 'what did you do first?...'.

  They both made the point that they were turning in reports when not going out on field service (tsk, tsk!) And I remembered the times I 'cooked the books' a little and rounded up the figures, fiddled my time a little, counting time when it was not proper ministry. Confession time eh?!

  Anyway, if I did it and others do or did it, it makes me wonder just how accurate these figures are that come out of the WTS every year. They are obviously going to be very inflated - but by how much?

  Also how many of the 6 million publishers are truly publishers in the WTS sense of the word. How many of these just claim 1 hour a month just so that they can be included in the figures? And as for hours spent in the field service - it would be fascinating to get an accurate figure for that too. And bible study figures - how accurate are those? How many of these bible studies are just chats over the fence with the man next door?? Or family bible studies with the kids and wife??

  Would be nice to get a true picture of what is going on in the society without all the exaggerations.
• 

  RunningMan

  This one makes me wonder, too.

  The last time that I was out in service was in early March, yet
  I am still a regular publisher - and not a bad one either. I wonder
  if the elders even believe my report anymore. But, they still
  faithfully phone if i forget to turn it in, and sound rather satisfied
  when I reel off another good month.

  As for the studies, I suspect that most of them are family studies. And
  of the family studies, I wonder how many of them are actually
  performed.

  Around this board, you will find a lot of people to echo these comments,
  but we are not exactly a representative sample.

  Here's my guess:
  - 10% of publishers report time accurately (deducting coffee breaks, etc.)
  - 40% of publishers pad a little (rounding, coffee, etc)
  - 30% of publishers round up medium amount
  - 10% of publishers pad a lot
  - 10% are complete fabrications

  Based on these assumptions, about 35% of service time is bogus (about
  350,0000,000 hours). Then add to this the amount of time that is
  intentionally wasted by knocking extra quietly, travelling exessive time, etc,
  and you wonder why they don't just shut it down.
• 

  Pierced Angel

  I started cheating on my time sheets in April. I guess that's when I really was convinced that it didn't matter if I lied to them. I had started to be convinced by then I think. I haven't turned in time since May and that was for a bogus 4 hours.

  I couldn't let myself put down false amounts in the past though, in case Jehovah was watching, you know. There have to be others that felt that way, right? I don't think everyone fudges the numbers.

  "When caught between two evils I generally pick the one I've never tried before." Mae West
• 

  Seeker

  If a significant amount of reported time is made up, it could help explain the incredible inefficiency of the preaching work. If you correlate the numbers of hours spent each year with the number baptized, you are left with the idea that the WTS picked the worst possible way to spread the message.
• 

  Utopian Reformist

  When I started researching the reporting responsibilities of IRS code 501-3c non-profit status corporations and organizations, I learned some very interesting things about the WTBS procedure of counting time.

  Did any of you know that since all income generated by a 501-3c has to be disposed? All member/director activity has to be accounted for and documented? You see, if you research 501-3c, you will find that the WTBS is very clever in three ways:

  1. All funds are used to finance more activity
  2. All members document their non-profit services to the organization and report their activities.
  3. In order to avoid paying standard corporate taxes, they are able to demonstrate that all activity is for a non-profit, religious and education purpose. All the non-profit volunteers (publishers and pioneers) record their hours of work, thus documenting the activity.

  By completing those reports, you are assisng the WTBS in maintaining their IRS non-profit status.

  Once I learned this, I quickly stopped reporting. Interesting isn't it? Visit the IRS web site and research non profit guidelines for yourself!
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  individuals wife

  My husband was once phoned by an elder chasing him up for his end of month report. He was told that if he could not remember what he had done.... just write down anything, just to have something down on paper, he said -'You must have done something - write down anything - the CO is visiting next month!!'

  They just wanted to have as few inactive publishers as possible so they were encouraging people to be less than truthful.
• 

  nytelecom1

  Anyway, if I did it and others do or did it, it makes me wonder just how accurate these figures are that come out of the WTS every year. They are obviously going to be very inflated - but by how much?

  last month i turned in 8 hours service.....
  .amount acutally spent = 0

  do you think i want the elders hounding me?
• 

  Seeker4

  If you combine what Mulan and I and now others have said about putting in time, with the post about a guide on how to waste time in the ministry, you get a much clearer picture of the actual preaching work being done.

  There were some, like Pierced Angel, who would never cheat, who probably followed the 15 minute rule, who didn't count break time or travleing time, etc. A LOT of Witnesses aren't like that. WE counted every second, and knocked on the house a minute from the Hall that was always empty, then drove to the far reaches of the territory. Our favorite joke, as young pioneers, was to ask an unbaptized kid in the car, "What's Jehovah's name?" in order to start our time.

  I'm only partially kidding here, but I do suspect that the WTS's figures for time in the ministry are HUGELY over-inflated compared to the actual amount of time spent talking to people in the ministry. I remember a period in my rural territory, when as a Pioneer and Elder, I went 3 months without talking to one soul in the house to house work.

  Yes, the books are badly doctored. I was handing in time for the hours I was talking against the org. Go figure where that comes in!!
  S4
• 

  metatron

  "Inflated" barely covers it - I've spent YEARS going out every Saturday in the magazine work and only talking to three or four
  people all morning. Total time spent talking - less than five
  minutes - time counted 2 hours.

  This is very common.

  metatron
• 

  individuals wife

  Our favorite joke, as young pioneers, was to ask an unbaptized kid in the car, "What's Jehovah's name?" in order to start our time.

  That doesnt surprise me at all Seeker4! I used to work regularly with another pioneer sister who would call for me at my house to go out on the ministry. Before we left she would get out the phone directory, choose a name at random, phone them up and ask them if they would like a visit from a representative of the local Jehovahs Witnesses. Needless to say, we never had any takers!!! But it did start our time, especially useful when it was a 45 minute drive to the territory sometimes... What lengths we went to just to get those precious hours in...

  you are left with the idea that the WTS picked the worst possible way to spread the message.

  seeker - long may their ineffectiveness continue....