What else do you think the real estate sales are for???
To cover running costs, which was hinted in Lett’s broadcast in 2015 (“the sale of a property only covers costs for a few months”) and confirmed by these comments made for an internal audience.
okay, they cheapened the product by getting rid of hardcover books.
they reduced printing of mags.
they drastically reduced the number of pieces of printed paper that members would "place" in people's hands in various ways, the biggest one being that they put them on a cart and don't encourage people to take them.they cut d.o.
What else do you think the real estate sales are for???
To cover running costs, which was hinted in Lett’s broadcast in 2015 (“the sale of a property only covers costs for a few months”) and confirmed by these comments made for an internal audience.
leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 1 of 5] https://youtu.be/g08tw2v3b4s.
leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 2 of 5] https://youtu.be/rpceb5v0vbe.
leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 3 of 5] https://youtu.be/2xa08ukc_6i.
A ploy to extract more donations.
They staged internal discussions of financial crisis, and leaked them so that a few JWs who wonder onto apostate websites might view them and increase their contribitions? Wow that’s some extreme collapse denial rationalisation going on there! (Approaching Morph level of delusion) No amount of evidence will convince some people that WT is in financial difficulty.
leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 1 of 5] https://youtu.be/g08tw2v3b4s.
leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 2 of 5] https://youtu.be/rpceb5v0vbe.
leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 3 of 5] https://youtu.be/2xa08ukc_6i.
The guy seated to the right looks like he doesn’t even want to read the material. He is over the top demonstrating that these words are scripted, they are not his. No wonder when he’s being asked to portray cutbacks as expansion. It’s embarrassing.
leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 1 of 5] https://youtu.be/g08tw2v3b4s.
leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 2 of 5] https://youtu.be/rpceb5v0vbe.
leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 3 of 5] https://youtu.be/2xa08ukc_6i.
We should remember that all the cutbacks and cashgrabs in 2015 were supposed to deal with their financial crisis and get them “back on track”: confiscating congregation funds, selling branch buildings in New York, London, and elsewhere, cancelling projects, cutting staff and bethel services. Yet three years later how is it going? Did these measures bring relief?
Apparently not. Because in 2018 they had to go even further: cutting yearbooks, magazines, nearly all printed material, no Bibles in Spanish. Internally they are insisting on 4% cuts from all branches in 2018 and 2019, on top of the cuts that have already been implemented. And everywhere around the world legal and financial pressure mounts. They are not emerging from this financial crisis, the crisis is deepening. They rightly have been criticised for not signing up to the fund for survivors in Australia. But apart from unwillingness, perhaps they simply cannot afford it. As in, not just unwilling to spend the money, but literally don’t have the money at all. Unless they contemplate closure, bankruptcy, collpase, whatever you want to call it.
geoff jackson speaking at a france dedication:.
then he said (i'm quoting him best i can remember, but you'll get the idea): "imagine if next week i go back to us and you see in the news that the whole gb was arrested for no reason.
how'd you react?
I’m a bit skeptical because the wording sounds just a bit too obvious. I’d want to hear the talk for myself.
leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 1 of 5] https://youtu.be/g08tw2v3b4s.
leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 2 of 5] https://youtu.be/rpceb5v0vbe.
leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 3 of 5] https://youtu.be/2xa08ukc_6i.
Yes the GB seems to have this idea that they can cut all the services they provide to publishers and yet they will get the same level of contributions. In reality JWs can see the cutbacks and will reduce contributions accordingly. So they will not get the financial benefit from cuts that they expect and their financial crisis will get even worse. Throw in increasing legal costs and bankruptcy/collapse begins to look not only possible, but likely.
okay, they cheapened the product by getting rid of hardcover books.
they reduced printing of mags.
they drastically reduced the number of pieces of printed paper that members would "place" in people's hands in various ways, the biggest one being that they put them on a cart and don't encourage people to take them.they cut d.o.
Yeah it’s all drastic. He says they hope that property sales will enable them to transition to a leaner budget going forward. I see a few problems with that:
1. donations are likely to decline not increase, or remain static
2. cuts in organisations rarely bring the savings hoped for
3. JWs are not equipped psychologically, ideologically, or technically to reduce costs in an efficient manner
4. have they budgeted to afford the increasing cost of legal fees and settlements in abuse cases?
Many good reasons to suspect their financial woes will get worse not better.
okay, they cheapened the product by getting rid of hardcover books.
they reduced printing of mags.
they drastically reduced the number of pieces of printed paper that members would "place" in people's hands in various ways, the biggest one being that they put them on a cart and don't encourage people to take them.they cut d.o.
Sorry that was 3000 properties they intend to sell, I misheard it.
leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 1 of 5] https://youtu.be/g08tw2v3b4s.
leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 2 of 5] https://youtu.be/rpceb5v0vbe.
leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 3 of 5] https://youtu.be/2xa08ukc_6i.
3000 properties to sell, not 30,000, my mistake. They’ve probably sold a large number of these by now. What will they do when they run out?
leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 1 of 5] https://youtu.be/g08tw2v3b4s.
leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 2 of 5] https://youtu.be/rpceb5v0vbe.
leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 3 of 5] https://youtu.be/2xa08ukc_6i.
Hang on a minute. Lett gave the increase in donations as a percentage, and here it is given in absolute terms ($30 million). That creates the potential for making a good estimate of the monthly worldwide income of Watchtower. What percentage did Lett say again? And what does that work out at?
I find it interesting that the brother said they need to “calculate the cost” beforehand, and admitted that “not all branches” had done that in the past. Apart from moving the blame onto branches for past mismanagement and away from the GB, this statement is revealing. If Watchtower got into difficulty just through poor financial planning, do we really think they have budgeted for abuse payouts in the coming years? If they have not budgeted for increased legal fees and settlements, then they may find that adjusting to “living within their means” is not enough at this stage.