carla: The honest answer is that of course the JWs ask for money, in a variety of ways - suggesting funds are needed, reminding congregations and assemblies that bills are coming due, exhorting those that can to do good works of giving. The difference would be that it is not a "requirement" to give. They just guilt and pressure you to give, and informally may treat you poorly if you don't.
Personally, all the Halls I've attended have been pretty mellow about money - leaving things on the "suggestive" side. But I've been in upper middle class Halls where people tend to have spare that they're willing to part with, and I have attended in years. I've heard some aggressive "suggestions" at District Assemblies, though. Sometimes "pleading", but sometimes "attacking" the brothers for not being generous enough to God's organization.
The last congregation I attended regularly built a new Hall. This was before the WTS got into the contracting business themselves. We relied on a lot of local professional talent that volunteered their time. My Elder dad was on some sort of committee to get the work done and there was often talk about getting the necessary donations for materials especially. A couple of the others on the committee (an Elder and a MS) were highly aggressive about pinning folks down to specific amounts, and it felt kinda funny to me, extracting donations, "they can afford more", that kind of thing. But this didn't seem to boil out to the general congregation, it was handled privately, hitting individuals up. Public comments from the platform were in the vein of, "As you know, brothers, we're getting down to the wire and are looking for that little extra that you might be able to offer."
Of course they ask. Some just don't hear because it's often asked in a polite way. Others are just in denial.