(NewsNation) — The National Rifle Association has put three dozen staff members on furlough in an attempt to slim down finances for what they call “the fights ahead,” as the group continues to recover from financial mismanagement and corruption.
“To ensure we are prepared for the fights ahead, we must create a leaner NRA that focuses on stretching every member dollar to best protect your right to keep and bear arms,” Doug Hamlin, the NRA’s CEO, said in a statement, reported the Washington Post.
The NRA did not immediately return a request for comment by NewsNation.
About 36 NRA employees have been furloughed, and the group is merging its membership, marketing and fundraising divisions into one, the outlet reported. The group is also either discontinuing or scaling back the four publications that it sends out.
The changes are expected to save $16 million, according to NRA board member John Richardson, reported the outlet.
The NRA lost $35 million in revenue last year, and the drop in fundraising has caused the group to utilize its reserve funds, according to nonprofit watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. It also spent $43.1 million, or more than 20%, on “legal, audit, and taxes.”
The largest gun rights groups in the nation have long been steeped in financial strife, including a corruption trial that found the NRA’s former CEO, Wayne LaPierre, liable for misspending millions of dollars on lavish trips and other personal expenses.
A jury last year ordered LaPierre to repay more than $5 million to the organization, while the NRA’s retired finance chief, Wilson “Woody” Phillips, was ordered to pay back $2 million.
LaPierre served as the group’s CEO and executive vice president for more than three decades. He resigned on the eve of the first phase of the trial.
The NRA has seen a drop in revenue and has lost more than 1.3 million members since 2018, according to an expert witness called by the group.
Ahead of the second stage of the trial, the state reached a settlement where Phillips was given a 10-year ban from serving as a fiduciary of a not-for-profit in New York. LaPierre was also given a ten-year ban from serving as an executive at the NRA and its affiliates.
A judge also ruled that the NRA must significantly reform its governance to abide by New York’s not-for-profit laws.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Go To Source | Author: Safia Samee Ali
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