Dismal fundraising and internal strife have hobbled the 154-year-old National Rifle Association in the quest to regain its status as a political powerhouse, according to people familiar with the situation.
And when they talk about the problems, one name keeps coming up: former NRA President Wayne LaPierre.
Mr. LaPierre exited the NRA in 2024 amid a devastating civil fraud trial against him and the organization. The NRA insiders say he took with him his fundraising prowess, and then his allies seized control of the NRA Foundation, the NRA’s sister organization that is a tax-exempt charity, which now competes with the NRA.
“That’s where this new struggle is right now, between the NRA and the NRA Foundation,” said one of the people closely linked to the NRA. “That conflict is, to me, what is really holding the NRA back from turning the corner and starting to rebuild in earnest.”
Mr. LaPierre resigned shortly before a New York jury found him liable for $5.4 million in damages due to financial mismanagement, including using NRA funds for private jets, luxury vacations and personal expenses.
In his heyday running the NRA, Mr. LaPierre was known to bring in $300 million a year in donations for the gun-rights group.
“When the dissidents turned on Wayne, those contributors went away,” a former NRA board member privately told The Washington Times.
“The new NRA was forced to face the fact that while it could raise money in the mail, which is almost enough for the advocacy part of the program, the additional money — which was used for training and all the other aspects of NRA activity, which is, frankly, about 80% — wasn’t there.”
Mr. LaPierre was also banned from serving as an NRA officer or director for 10 years.
The NRA’s financial decline snowballed in recent years.
By the end of 2024, the NRA’s investment portfolio plunged from more than $72 million in 2023 to less than $33 million, according to the NRA’s tax filing with regulators in North Carolina.
It liquidated stock worth almost $40 million, fixed-income securities and other holdings to pay its bills, according to a 41-page audit document prepared by accounting firm Aprio LLP.
“The NRA has experienced net losses over the past two years,” Aprio auditors wrote. “To reduce debt and provide funding for operations, the NRA liquidated some of its investments in 2024. Expenses continue to be monitored and the NRA has met the cash demands of its operations and expenses as they come due.”
The NRA’s revenue from membership dues has spiraled downward, with $51.7 million in dues reported in 2024, down from $61.8 million in 2023. In 2022, its member dues accounted for $83 million in revenue.
The NRA did not respond to a request for comment. The Times also reached out to Mr. LaPierre.
Following Mr. LaPierre’s exit and a housecleaning in NRA executive offices, NRA officials allied with Mr. LaPierre found refuge at the NRA Foundation. The foundation was founded in 1990 for tax-exempt fundraising and educational grantmaking.
The NRA recently sued the NRA Foundation in federal court, alleging it is unfairly using the NRA logos to create a rival donor base and undermine the fundraising operations of the NRA.
“The biggest problem right now is the old guard, the folks who allied with Wayne,” said the person privy to NRA’s internal debates. “They’ve been kind of forced out of a position of power within the NRA, and so, a lot of them have decamped over to the NRA Foundation, which, by the way, has a hell of a lot of money.”
In 2024, the NRA Foundation recorded assets of just over $202 million, with about $35 million in revenue from contributions and investments. Its bank account had increased from 2023’s net assets of roughly $183 million, with about $33 million in revenue, according to its annual financial report.
The NRA Foundation called the NRA lawsuit “false and misleading.”
The foundation, on a website rebutting the lawsuit’s allegations, said it has not slashed its support for NRA programs, attempted to separate itself from the NRA nor hijacked the NRA’s trademark.
“The Foundation’s legal name is The NRA Foundation, Inc. It has used this name continuously since its formation in 1990 — more than 35 years ago,” it said. “The NRA did not previously object to the Foundation’s use of its legal name, nor did it seek payment related to that use prior to the current dispute. The Foundation disputes that the NRA has the right to do so now.”
It also said the foundation continues to support NRA programs “such as the Eddie Eagle Program, Hunter Education, and shooting competitions, subject to grant policies and legal requirements.”
“In fact, the Foundation has agreed to fund more than $7 million in qualifying expenses for charitable programs administered by the NRA in 2026,” the foundation said.
Nevertheless, the diminished stature of the NRA was evident in last year’s elections in its backyard.
The NRA, which is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, was nearly absent in the off-year election that put Gov. Abigail Spanberger and a Democratic majority in power in Richmond with an agenda that includes a raft of new gun-control laws.
The NRA spent just $25,000 on the election, with $5,000 to support Republican Winsome Earl-Sears’ unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
Meanwhile, the gun-control advocates at Everytown for Gun Safety spent over $1.5 million, with nearly $1 million going toward Ms. Spanberger, a Democrat and gun-control proponent.
NRA supporters insist the group could have spent more on the Virginia races, but it would not have changed the outcome in a year when Democrats had the advantage.
Still, the NRA, which endorsed Donald Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024, political spending — a reflection of its ability to fill its coffers — has declined markedly in recent election cycles.
The NRA spent $11 million in the 2024 elections, one-third of its 2020 spending and less than one-fifth of its 2016 spending, according to campaign data tracker OpenSecrets.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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