Funds are raised across America, primarily during approximately 1100 annual events.

Each event occurs in a different community and is volunteer-run and managed at the local level with NRA support staff oversight.

[1] A typical Friends of NRA event starts with a reception that includes games, raffles and a silent auction.

Attendees eat dinner and listen to a guest speaker, if one is present.

[2] The organization has been criticized by gun control activists and some parents for conducting gun auctions in schools, sometimes involving bringing actual weapons onto school grounds.