GM Problem: NRA Giving Away Chevy Silverado

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) can’t do anything about it. The NRA has a sweepstakes and the prize is a 2017 Chevy Silverado 1500, heavily modified by a race car builder. The organization calls it the “NRA Special Edition Truck.”

The sweepstakes is part of a strategy to keep and gain new members. Anyone can enter, however, one of the pieces of information the NRA asks for when people do enter is their NRA Member ID. The NRA also asks for a $10 donation from anyone who signs up. People can enter more than once, and the $10 request applies to each entry.

Even though the NRA is a nonprofit, those who enter cannot take a tax deduction. And, gifts to the NRA are not refundable.

The sweepstake puts another brand at risk. The Chevy Silverado has been modified by Richard Childress Racing. Childress has two teams in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and three teams in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Childress has sponsorship arrangements with Caterpillar, Dow, American Ethanol, Grainger, AAA, GM’s Chevrolet and Bass Pro Shops. Each of these brands has some risk because of the Childress participation is the modification of the Chevy truck used for the NRA sweepstakes.

The NRA’s description of the truck:

The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 is a powerhouse truck, setting the benchmark for on and off-road performance. Now Richard Childress Racing – masters at building race cars from the ground up – are giving NRA’s 2017 Silverado the full-throttle treatment. Bristling with custom features and new technology, this beast is truly one-of-a-kind.

The NRA has relationships with many other large U.S. companies and their brands. Since the Parkland, Flordia, school shooting, a number of these companies, include Delta Air Lines, United Continental, Hertz, MetLife and Chubb have ended their ties to the nonprofit.

GM does not have the ability to stop the NRA from using its Silverado in the sweepstakes. It has to wait until the sweepstakes ends and hope the NRA won’t use another Silverado for the same purpose later.