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Thread: The Shit Storm that is the NRA Today & How We Got Here

  1. #961
    Site Supporter OlongJohnson's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ed L View Post
    The Russian hackers threatened to send mailings out to members urging them NOT to send any more money to the NRA.
    Something I do with every post.
    .
    -----------------------------------------
    Not another dime.

  2. #962
    If this is what it takes to get the board minutes out, and promptly, I am in favor of it!
    Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.

  3. #963
    Revolvers Revolvers 1911s Stephanie B's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OlongJohnson View Post
    Something I do with every post.
    Dobroye utro, tovarisch!

  4. #964
    …And there’s a book. Author interview:
    ————-

    “ …MAK: They really like to frequent this Italian restaurant and cigar bar called Lentini's (ph). And they would often charge it to their advertising firm Ackerman McQueen's credit card. And Ackerman McQueen would then often bill that back to the National Rifle Association as a nondescript expense, which would then be paid off. And by doing this, they'd be able to hide these expenses from its board of directors and from their public disclosures, which the NRA is required to make.”



    MAK: I think that's part of it. I mean, one of the major themes of the book is that the NRA is very, very successful during the Obama years. I mean, those are the years when the NRA was able to sell fear of the Obama administration taking away guns or gun rights. But it's only after Donald Trump is elected that the money starts to dry up. And in this contraction, in all these problems and troubles, some of their corruption starts to bubble up. This financial squeeze starts to push up all these other problems that have been happening, but hidden because of how successful they were with money in the Obama years.

    INSKEEP: Have you had an opportunity to talk to some rank-and-file NRA members, not insiders at headquarters, but just rank-and-file people and find out what they feel about the organization these days?

    MAK: There's a lot of dismay about the leadership of Wayne LaPierre and other top executives. There are even kind of sub-groups - groups created by NRA members who want accountability and reform inside the organization - that have formed and are actively trying to push the NRA in a direction of greater transparency.

    https://www.npr.org/2021/11/02/10513...ion-in-the-nra

  5. #965
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    An excerpt of the Tim Mak book, published by TheReload.com:

    https://thereload.com/your-nra-dues-...ng-to-the-nra/

    Your NRA Dues May Not Be Going to the NRA

    InfoCision has a sweetheart deal, according to public filings and required financial disclosures. Its extraordinary contract with the NRA includes a provision: if InfoCision acquires a new member or reactivates a lapsed donor for the gun rights group, it gets to keep 100 percent of the over-the-phone credit card payments ostensibly made to the NRA. The company gets paid twice: first, to fundraise; and second, with a cut of the amount fundraised. The result of the contract is that InfoCision is paid significantly more than it actually brings in.

    From 2008 to 2018, InfoCision raised $113.5 million for the NRA. Of that, it kept a cut of $64.3 million, or 56.6 percent— sort of like a commission. On top of that, the NRA paid InfoCision a whopping $210 million over that same time period for its services. The bottom line is that the NRA paid over $200 million so that it could raise less than $50 million.

  6. #966
    Quote Originally Posted by Seven_Sicks_Two View Post
    An excerpt of the Tim Mak book, published by TheReload.com:

    https://thereload.com/your-nra-dues-...ng-to-the-nra/

    Your NRA Dues May Not Be Going to the NRA
    Gosh! Do you suppose any of that money flows back to whoever at the NRA approved that brilliant deal?

    I know it’s common in organizations that a significant percentage of funds raised are eaten by the fundraising costs, but paying more than 100% of what is raised for you is a whole new level of creative bookkeeping.
    Last edited by peterb; 11-18-2021 at 06:20 PM.

  7. #967
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    NRA Revenues Cut in Half Since 2018, Legal Spending Spiked in 2021

    https://thereload.com/exclusive-nra-...again-in-2021/

    The amount spent on lawyers was more than ten times the amount the NRA spent on programs aimed at education and training, competitive shooting, law enforcement, community engagement, the NRA Range, NRA Firearms Museum, and school security combined. Legal fees were the second largest expense for the organization behind costs associated with getting and keeping members.

    The gun-rights group’s membership fell to its lowest point since 2017. Its revenue dropped to $165.2 million—missing its own projections by $19.4 million. That brings revenue to nearly half what it was in 2018, thanks mostly to a drop in membership dues. Spending is down even further: In 2018, the group spent more than it brought in, but it has paid down $14 million of its debt and run a slight surplus through August 2021
    And the hits keep coming. I haven't renewed my membership because of Wayne. It appears that I'm not the only one.
    Based on the article the NRA is also hollowing out a number of its programs to pay their legal fees.

  8. #968
    Revolvers Revolvers 1911s Stephanie B's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Whirlwind06 View Post
    https://thereload.com/exclusive-nra-...again-in-2021/

    And the hits keep coming. I haven't renewed my membership because of Wayne. It appears that I'm not the only one.
    Based on the article the NRA is also hollowing out a number of its programs to pay their legal fees.
    I dropped my membership. Apparently, the NRA realizes that departing members aren’t coming back, because they only sent me one or two mailings after it lapsed.
    If we have to march off into the next world, let us walk there on the bodies of our enemies.

  9. #969
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    Quote Originally Posted by Whirlwind06 View Post
    https://thereload.com/exclusive-nra-...again-in-2021/



    And the hits keep coming. I haven't renewed my membership because of Wayne. It appears that I'm not the only one.
    Based on the article the NRA is also hollowing out a number of its programs to pay their legal fees.
    I think Gutowski makes several conclusions on why membership is down that aren't a full picture of reality. No doubt, many gun owners are not happy with Wayne, but Covid forced us to cancel two annual meetings, cancel many Friends events, and end a lot of in-person recruiting for the better part of a year (not to mention that many donors were also impacted by Covid, and less likely to give). That had a huge impact.

    Gutowski notes (even though he buried it) that ILA fundraising was actually quite solid. We don't rely on in-person fundraising/recruitment as much as membership or the foundation, so the impact of Covid was lessened.
    Last edited by joshs; 02-08-2022 at 11:50 AM.

  10. #970
    @joshs

    Didn't COVID hit all pro-gun groups, everywhere? I haven't heard that the Second Amendment Foundation has lost the membership that the NRA has, nor the Gun Owners of America. As a matter of fact, SAF has reported a 20% increase in donations in the second quarter 2021, a COVID period.

    There is no wish to be disputatious, but given the above, it would not be unreasonable to conclude that (i) the NRA lost members are not all COVID related, (ii) some (but probably not all) of the wayward members have shifted their support to other pro-gun memberships, and (iii) these former members are unlikely to return to the NRA.

    The phrase "Stick a fork in it" comes to mind.

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