My Nonprofit Reviews

I have been a donor for invisible Children since 2009. I did not receive my KONY 2012 kit when the video went viral, but I was called by a staff member after the fact... they offered a refund, but I didn't take it. Here's why, and I must warn you in advance... this explanation will be lengthy. Since 2009, I have been fully aware of this organization's integrity and willingness to create peace to part of our world. Before, I never donated. I just watched their films, was shocked as I heard about an ongoing war that was not being covered anywhere in U.S. media, let alone history books... I began writing research papers for school (peer reviewed searches verified the crisis in dozens of articles), and I began spreading awareness. I attended their Dallas "Rescue Joseph Kony's Child Soldiers" event, where hundreds of us symbolically abducted ourselves and walked 7 miles to a park (LRA camp) and waited to be rescued by a political figure, someone from the media, and a celebrity. I wrote letters many letters that day to members of Congress and political leaders, which led to a movement that got President Obama's attention. He signed the LRA Disarmament and Recovery Act in 2009. If you google search photos of Obama signing this act, you can see Laren Poole standing behind him in the oval office. Just last year ( and you can google this too, and find it anywhere in the news, JUST MAKE SURE IT'S A VERIFIABLE SOURCE - NOT AN OPINION ARTICLE OR A BLOG), President Obama sent 100 U.S. troops and military experts to Central Africa to help aid the crisis in the region and help capture Joseph Kony, WHO IS STILL ALIVE, AND ON THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT'S MOST WANTED LIST FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY ALONG WITH MANY OTHER TERRORISTS AROUND THE WORLD. Since I have been a member of this organization I have become a member of their TRI program, as well as the Legacy Scholarship Fund. I am also a graduate student at the University of North Texas, where I personally met and have remained in contact with formerly abducted child soldiers and night commuters... people who were severely impacted and traumatized by this war. Every $ I have spent helped put children through schools (as well as build/rebuild them), created jobs, and helped rehabilitate and rescue child soldiers and victims of war. My efforts, as well as the efforts of thousands have helped end night commuting (again, you can research this anywhere) and eliminate displacement camps in Uganda (research this too), where people were dying of hunger and illness every day. The LRA had been destroying Uganda for over 20 years, and if it hadn't been for this organization spreading awareness about this crisis, if it hadn't been for these young filmmakers pushing so many people to help, there would not be peace and our U.S. leaders would not have lifted a finger to help. Here's why so many people didn't get their kit (and why I declined a refund): I personally knew this organization was run almost entirely by volunteers and "roadies" (people traveling the country as well as Central Africa spreading awareness and helping). A warehouse of volunteers were responsible for putting together DVDs, shipping packages of Bracelets created by former victims of war in Africa, as well as other shirts that were printed and sold by order. I ordered plenty of merchandise for events knowing every dollar would go straight to their cause, and it was shipped on time, every time. THIS ORGANIZATION DID NOT EXPECT FOR KONY 2012 TO GO VIRAL OVERNIGHT. MILLIONS of people across the country ordered kits, and the demand was so high, they obviously ran out pretty quick. On top of that, their servers crashed, and millions of orders were not submitted. To make things worse, the three passionate filmmakers whose only dream was to change the world were now being attacked by thousands of skeptics who accused them of scamming and lying to about a very real, ongoing WAR in Central Africa. This led to Jason Russell's very public mental breakdown. Imagine seeing all the hurtful comments and taking all of that abuse after spending your entire adult life fighting for a cause now everyone believes is a lie? If you've read this much, I hope you realize I'm just a normal person... I've read all of the reviews and am frankly tired of it. Invisible Children has nothing to hide, it has a 4 star rating, and is backed by international organizations all over the world. Take that into consideration before spouting off simply because you never got your kit, or because you've read comments mostly based on opinion, and read some statistics you don't fully understand because you've never taken a statistics or accounting class.

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