In March 2012, the non-profit organization Invisible Children released a 29-minute video on YouTube to kick off its KONY 2012 campaign. The video aimed to make war criminal Joseph Kony "famous" and ultimately stop him and his rebel army, the Lord's Resistance Army, or LRA.
Soon after its release, the KONY 2012 campaign rapidly took off. The video probably dominated your Facebook News Feed, and you may have even seen celebrities tweeting about the campaign. In just six days, the video garnered 100 million views and 3.7 million people pledged to support the campaign.
However, Invisible Children announced today that it will close its San Diego headquarters and reduce its staff of about 22 employees in the U.S. to five employees working remotely this month, BuzzFeed News reports. The organization plans to close its U.S. headquarters in 2015.
"It's the end of Invisible Children as most people know it," Invisible Children CEO Ben Keesey told BuzzFeed News.
Next year, the organization will operate solely in the U.S., continuing to lobby Congress for support for anti-LRA endeavors. Invisible Children's key programs in Africa will also undergo a "12-month handover process."
Invisible Children was officially formed in 2004 after three young filmmakers filmed children trying to escape the LRA in Uganda. The organization soon toured schools with the footage and gained support. But it wasn't until it launched the KONY 2012 campaign that things really took off.
Of course, with great success always comes great backlash. The Internet blew up with criticism of the campaign. Everything from the video's Hollywood-style presentation of a serious issue to inaccuracies to the organization's poor spending practices, was questioned. This all culminated in a very public and very naked meltdown by one of Invisible Children's founders Jason Russell. Needless to say, none of this helped Invisible Children's mission.
Invisible Children staffers knew that the organization's end was in sight when BuzzFeed News visited the organization's headquarters earlier this year. "In the controversy's aftermath, Invisible Children had difficulty booking school tours for the first time in years," BuzzFeed News reported. "By mid-2012, Invisible Children had nearly $26.5 million in revenue and $17 million in net assets. By mid-2013, the organization had $4.9 million in revenue (their lowest since 2005) and less than $6.6 million in assets."
The organization is currently asking for donations on its website to raise $150,000 in order to keep its operations going through 2015. Invisible Children is calling it its "Finishing Fund."
Note: The original title of this story, "The Organization Behind KONY 2012 Plans To Close After 2015," has been updated to more accurately reflect the changes to Invisible Children's U.S. operations. T-Lounge regrets the error.
