Non Profit That Brought Child Soldiers Into Spotlight Shutting Doors

Invisible Children, the San Diego nonprofit that called for an African warlord to be brought to justice, announced today that it will close most of its U.S. operations next year.

The group’s 30-minute video, ”Kony 2012,’’ received 70 million views in 
the first four days after its release in March of that year, making it go 
viral the fastest of any video in the history of the Internet.

The video,describing how Joseph Kony enslaves child soldiers in Central Africa, has been seen more than 100 million times, according to YouTube. 

In a message on its website, Invisible Children said it would close its 
San Diego office, limit U.S operations to political advocacy in Washington, D.C., and have local groups take over their programs in Uganda.

”When our three founders got on a plane with a camera in 2003, they 
never imagined that the story they found would lead to this incredible 
journey,’’ the message said. ``And sitting here eleven years later, we cannot believe how much we’ve been able to accomplish with all of you.

But despite 
making incredible progress toward our mission, it’s been difficult to fund the 
breadth of our work, especially over the last two years.’’ While the video generated millions of dollars in donations, the 
organization said it needed $150,000 to maintain a small staff to oversee its most essential programs through the end of next year. 
Most of the staff will be let go, according to the message.

There have been detractors of the organization, pointing out that more than 60 percent of monies generated go toward salaries, staff and overhead. See videos below:

Source 

http://patch.com/california/delmar-carmelvalley/non-profit-brought-child-soldiers-spotlight-shutting-doors