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TIN:
SCHEDULE O
(Form 990 or 990-EZ)
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
(Form 990 or 990-EZ)
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Supplemental Information to Form 990 or 990-EZ
Complete to provide information for responses to specific questions on
Form 990 or 990-EZ or to provide any additional information.
Attach to Form 990 or 990-EZ.
Information about Schedule O (Form 990 or 990-EZ) and its instructions is atwww.irs.gov/form990.
OMB No. 1545-0047
2015
Open to Public
Inspection
Inspection
Name of the organization
National Rifle Association of America
Employer identification number
53-0116130
53-0116130
| Return Reference | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Form 990, Part III, Line 4d | Program Service Expenses 127,938,859, Grants and allocations 0, Revenue 166,319,549 This note provides further information on Part III Program Service Accomplishments. NRA program services are centered on the NRAs core mission of firearms safety, education, and training. In addition to the activities already described, other key gun safety and related programs too numerous to detail include NRAs Refuse To Be a Victim, Eddie Eagle, NRA Museums, NRA Advancement, NRA Country, Great American Outdoor Show, NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits, and much more. All 990 readers are encouraged to refer to NRA.org, NRApublications.org, NRAILA.org, NRAnews.com, and NRAgive.com for appealing and inspirational opportunities to continue to engage with the NRA on the core mission of gun safety. NRA members and other lawful gun owners proudly preserve the Second Amendment as Americas first freedom. |
| Form 990, Part I, Line 1 | The NRA is a 501c4 membership association with four 501c3 public charities and a Section 527 political action committee, which is a separate segregated fund. The four charities affiliated with the NRA are NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund, NRA Foundation Inc, NRA Freedom Action Foundation, and NRA Special Contribution Fund DBA NRA Whittington Center. The political action committee is the NRA Political Victory Fund. See Schedule R, Part II. During 2015, NRA annual membership dues were 35 with promotional discounts to 25. In late 2015, the NRA announced a dues increase from 35 to 40 which would take effect in early 2016, representing the first NRA dues increase in more than twenty years. Individuals who would like to reduce the volume of solicitations they receive from the NRA can contact NRA Member Services and request to be placed on the Do Not Promote list. This simple step will significantly reduce the amount of contact received from the NRA without affecting magazine service, Board of Directors ballot, membership renewal, or other vital mail. |
| Form 990, Part I, Line 7 | This informational note regards the NRAs unrelated business income. Form 990 page 1 shows gross unrelated business revenue on line 7a and net unrelated business taxable income on line 7b. The NRA did not owe unrelated business income tax for the year 2015 due to the application of net operating loss carryforwards, as allowed by law. The main sources of the NRAs unrelated business income, as shown on 990 Part VIII, Column C, are certain merchandise sales from the e-commerce platforms, advertising, and other activities not related to the NRAs tax exempt purposes within the NRA Official Journals, NRA digital online channels, and NRA television programs. Additional informational notes regarding the NRAs taxes are shared on Schedule C regarding proxy taxes and Schedule D regarding state and local taxes. The NRA chooses to share all of this extra information about the NRAs total taxes, above and beyond 990 instructions and regulatory requirements, in order to demonstrate in good faith that the organization is a taxpayer in good standing. |
| Form 990, Part I, Line 8 | This informational note regards the NRAs contribution revenue. The vast majority of contributions to the NRA comes from millions of small individual donors. Gifts from companies and executives in the firearms, hunting, and shooting sports industries typically comprise less than 5 of the NRAs contribution revenue every year, as applied to contribution revenue reported on Form 990, Part VIII, line 1. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section A, Line 6 | The National Rifle Association is a membership association that represents only individual citizens. Membership dues are properly reported on Form 990, Part VIII, line 2 pursuant to the instructions for such reporting. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section A, Line 7a | NRA members elect all 76 members of the NRA Board of Directors. 75 directors are elected for staggered three year terms, and the 76th director is elected for a one year term on the occasion of each NRA Annual Meeting of Members. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section A, Line 7b | Certain Board of Directors decisions are subject to membership approval per NRA Bylaws and New York not for profit corporate law. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 11b | Form 990 is reviewed by the external auditing firm, presented to the NRA Board of Directors Audit Committee, and made available to the full NRA Board of Directors, before it is filed with the IRS. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 12c | The organization takes conflicts of interest very seriously and utilizes a statement of corporate ethics. To monitor and enforce corporate filings, annual filings must be provided to the Office of the Secretary and General Counsel and reviewed regularly and consistently. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 15 | Compensation of the NRAs top management officials is established by methods including independent compensation consultants, compensation surveys and studies, and comparability data. In addition, under the NRA Bylaws, compensation of certain elected officers including the Executive Vice President must be approved by the Board of Directors, based on recommendations by the compensation committee. All decisions are properly documented. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section C, Line 18 | Readers are politely reminded the NRA was founded 145 years ago, in 1871. The NRAs 1944 determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service is available on Guidestar.org and can also be requested directly from the NRA as required by law. Forms 990 can be requested directly from the NRA as required by law. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section C, Line 19 | NRA Bylaws, audited consolidated financial statements of the NRA and affiliates, and annual reports are available upon request for the same period of disclosure as set forth in Section 6104d. The NRA does not make internal operating policies available to the general public. |
| Form 990, Part VII, Section A, Line 1 | This informational note regards service on the NRA Board of Directors, which is not compensated. Board members who received Forms 1099 were compensated for other professional services they performed for the organization, not for their voluntary Board service. |
| Form 990, Part VIII, Line 2b | This informational note regards the reporting of member dues on Form 990. Line 1b of the revenue statement is properly left blank. Pursuant to 990 form instructions, membership dues that are not contributions because they compare reasonably with available benefits are reported on line 2. Thus, all NRA member dues are properly shown on the 990 revenue statement as program service revenue on line 2, other than NRA Life-plus contributions which are properly counted as contribution revenue in line 1f of the 990 revenue statement. |
| Form 990, Part IX, Line 11 | This informational note regards the NRAs payment of fees for outside professional services as stated on line 11 of the 990 expense statement. Line 11b reports legal fees paid to outside attorneys, such as for Second Amendment case work and related litigation at the federal and state levels. Line 11c reports accounting fees paid to the outside CPA firm that provides the NRAs auditing and tax services. Line 11d reports lobbying expenses paid to external registered lobbyists. Line 11e reports fundraising costs paid to the authorized vendors listed on Schedule G. Line 11f reports investment management fees paid to investment advisors that manage the NRAs portfolios. Professional services performed by NRA employees in house counsel, in house accountants, in house lobbyists, in house fundraisers, and in house investment managers, respectively are properly reported on lines 5-7 of the expense statement, as required by 990 form instructions. |
| Form 990, Part IX, Line 24e | This response explains 15,436,766 of other expenses stated on line 24e of the 990, Part IX expense statement. This figure includes 8,452,633 other legislative not lobbying program services, 4,420,028 banking fees, 1,640,069 membership fulfillment items, 466,016 FASB ASC 715 pension accounting valuation adjustment, and 458,020 compensation of former officers. |
| Form 990, Part XI, Line 9 | This response explains 1,757,169 of other changes in the net assets reconciliation schedule. The figure includes 1,041,579 agency transactions between the NRA and NRA Foundation and 715,590 unrealized gain on derivative instrument. The agency transactions figure of 1,041,579 includes endowment contributions and endowment earnings designated by NRA Foundation donors for eligible NRA programs. Readers may refer to Schedule D for an informational note on the derivative instrument. |
For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see the Instructions for Form 990 or 990-EZ.
Cat. No. 51056K
Schedule O (Form 990 or 990-EZ) 2015
Additional Data
| Software ID: | 15000290 |
| Software Version: | 15.3.0.0 |