50% of 2011 funds raised are kept in their bank accounts. 20% went to expenses, half of which was TRAVEL, and FILM expenses.
This is an organization whose primary mandate is to promote awareness about the LRA. They do this by travelling to various places, giving speeches and making films. Of course their travel and film expenses are significant. But since that's their mandate, publicly expressed to anyone who's interested, I don't see why this is an issue.
In the end, 80% of their expenses go towards their stated programs. That may not be the best rate in the world for a charity, but it's better than an awful lot of them.
As for the 50% being kept in their accounts. Their cash assets do appear (as of June 2011) to be about 50% of their total income from the year. However, the majority of that ($5m of the $6m remaining) was money which went from being restricted to unrestricted but was raised over a number of years prior to that.
The point is a red herring though. Invisble Children was, at this time, planning on launching their largest project ever... the Kony 2012 campaign. It's not really surprising that they needed to have strong liquid assets behind them to do this. Charities often raise money over a long period of time to be used at once in a single effort. It was in the charities account though, not sitting in the personal account of its founder.
Only 30% went to Uganda, and a majority of it went to the militia and government military, which have also been under heavy criticism of rape, kill, and steal from small towns.
Closer to 37% of it went to projects in Africa. Mostly in Uganda, but also in neighbouring countries where the LRA operates. None of it went to the Army though, nor even to the government in any direct way. Their biggest program is a scholarship program for kids affected by the conflict in Uganda.
They lack external board members which really should disqualify them from being a 'charity'
They have 4 independent board members. There's a couple agencies which rate charities who want them to have 5 before giving them the highest possible rating -- a rating Invisible Children had before they dropped down to 4 board members.
they lack external auditors. I went on a short google hunt, and I believe that the auditors they use share the same last name as one of the founders.
They have external auditors. Considine & Considine. I can't find a definitive list of their founders though... I also can't find anyone closely associated with the organization with the last name Considine. Could you point me in the right direction?
If it smells like a scam, it's a scam. They saw a potential for viral campaign, and they took it.
I'm sorry. I just don't see it. I think there's better causes out there. I think that some of what they're doing could be done more effectively. But it doesn't seem like a scam to me. At worst, the guys running it are making a decent living while also doing exactly what they say they're trying to do.
Do you think working for a charity means you don't get paid though? They still need employees and need competitive salaries to get good ones. That's how every large charity operates.
-Fooglmog
Guy with no clue.
