Kony 2012 Funding: Invisible Children Accepted Money From Anti-Gay Christian Groups

Invisible Children, the charity behind Kony 2012, has once again come under fire for its funding practices. This time it's for the organization's connection to anti-gay Christian groups.

After investigating the IRS tax forms and yearly reports from Invisible Children, AlterNet.org found that the nonprofit accepted funding and support from far-right groups staunchly opposed to gay rights.

AlterNet.org noted that Invisible Children accepted a $414,000 grant from the National Christian Foundation (NCF) in 2008. The organization dispenses money to Christian charities that promote its mission to “enable followers of Christ to give wisely to advance His Kingdom.”

Another cause NCF deemed worthy of its support was Ed Silvoso’s Harvest Evangelism, an organization that worked directly with the Ugandan author and promoter of the Anti Homosexuality Bill, Julius Oyet, according to AlterNet.org.

“The sodomy people, the homosexuals, are even more foolish than dogs,” Oyet said at a rally in 2010. “There’s no female dog that mates with a female dog.”

Invisible Children acknowledged another connection with anti-gay initiatives when it thanked Terry and Barbara Caster in its 2008 report, AlterNet also reported. The Caster family donated $162,500 in support of California’s anti-same sex marriage Proposition 8, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.

“Without solid marriage, you are going to have a sick society,” Terry Caster, chairman of the board of Caster Companies, told the news outlet in 2008.

But Invisible Children has defended its funding practices, and maintained its support of the LGBT community, despite the recent findings.

“The fact that Invisible Children sees people as PEOPLE – whether they be family, neighbors, or children in Central Africa – is one of the reasons I finally came out as a gay man,” Chris Sarette, vice president of Business Operations at Invisible Children, said in an email to Daily Intel. “Invisible Children’s work concerns a human rights issue, and has attracted supporters, employees, and board members who otherwise sit on different sides of the aisle on many other issues. Invisible Children is not an anti-gay organization, and has in fact publicly spoken out against acts of violence on members of the GLBT community in Uganda.”

Jason Russel, the co-founder of Invisible Children, describes himself as a Christian and was taken to a medical facility on Friday after he was found yelling incoherently, vandalizing cars and disrupting traffic in a San Diego neighborhood.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story referred to the National Christian Foundation as the NCC. The organization's correct acronym is NCF.

Comments

[just a guy1]

09:08 PM on 03/21/2012

Off all the criticisms of IC, I find this the most absurd. Some causes are so clear cut that both right and left can support them.

I work for a charity and our stated policy is that we will accept contributions from anyone. If we disagree with their politics how much better is it that they give us the money than to the causes we disagree with.

Also National Christian Foundation, similar to a community foundation, manages donor advised funds from thousands of individuals. That is, those individuals house their own philanthropic money with NCF, who manages it, and the donor then tells NSF who to make donations to. NCF itself exercises little or no control over where those funds go. The individual donors may have very little in common other than their faith. The chances that it was the same donor who gave to both IC and Harvest Evangelism is extremely remote.

My organization receives money from the National Christian Foundation which is directed to us from six or seven different people. Those people don't know each other, and if we were to sit them down in a room we would get some very divergent views.

Using this game of "Six degrees of Kevin Bacon" on the list of funders, I bet you could just as easily link IC to the far left, Occupy, the Tea Party, Nelson Mandela, the Minutemen and the Russian mafia.

[Blaze Burton]

04:56 PM on 03/20/2012

if hitler wanted to give me a million dollars i would take it. I would use it as i saw fit but i would still take it.

[whitenights]

01:30 AM on 03/20/2012

I am one of the strongest critics of IC, but I have to say it is ridiculous to criticize them of their donors. It would be better to concentrate on the real issues of: misinformation, lies, funding, and an unresearched military plan that is unrealistic and more harmful than good. The point that the Ugandan gov't has sought the death penalty for homosexuals is valid since IC wants to fund the military. Let's stick to the main points so we can truly see this organization is held accountable for its actions. They have no control of who their donors are. I'd also like to see the comments of Jason's sexuality stop, too. It doesn't matter. What matters is this campaign is: built on outdated footage, emotionally based, ill informed, uneducated in plan, etc

[Bruce Wilson]

07:57 AM on 03/20/2012

"They have no control of who their donors are." - Well, as a simple point of fact, they do. But I think you miss the inherent point, which perhaps I should have made more explicit; why was Invisible Children, from its first year of inception, apparently on the radar screens of big donors who fund the politicized, hard evangelical right?

Your objection is helpful though, because helps me think through what's missing in the sorts of critiques of IC you list. What runs through the growing mystery and controversy surrounding Invisible Children is a simple question - what is Invisible Children, really? Countless people who watched KONY 2012 seemed to have gotten the strong gut feeling something was very wrong. But what ?

In a November, 2011 appearance at Liberty University, Jason Russell was asked to discuss IC specifically as an evangelizing missions effort that targets the "millennial" generation. If we put IC's heavy funding from the heavyweights of the evangelical right foundation world together with such language from its co-founder and lead star, we get a simple answer that explains why, for example, IC only spends about 32% of its budget on programs that benefit Africa. That would make perfect sense if it is the case the Invisible Children's primary goal is not human needs (those might come in a close second) but, rather, saving souls... in America.

[Domjeamou]

12:23 AM on 03/20/2012

So what?!!

What were they supposed to do? Say "Thanks but no thanks for the free money!"??

If you recall, Planned Parent Hood was caught accepting money from people who adamantly stated that they hoped the money they were donating would go to prevent black people from having more children.

It's funny how people want to pretend to take moral high grounds when it comes to money. lol!

[SentientRat]

01:52 AM on 03/20/2012

"What were they supposed to do? Say "Thanks but no thanks for the free money!"??"

Exactly. Would you accept money from Adolph Hitler?

[Domjeamou]

04:43 PM on 03/20/2012

Apples and oranges, dude.

Why do people always resort to comparing moderately bad things and people to Hitler and/or nazis? Too lazy to think of a more suitable comparison?

[Bluesue]

12:11 AM on 03/20/2012

Child soldiers is a worldwide problem. If you want to learn more, check this website:

Child Soldiers International

http://www.child-soldiers.org/home

And this article about a recent meeting in Finland to discuss the problem of child soldiers:

Aside from the Philippines, the Human Rights Watch said that child soldiers are also fighting in at least 14 other countries and territories including Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), India, Iraq, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, and Uganda.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/03/17/12/ph-rebels-use-child-soldiers-report

or this from March 14:

ICC Finds Lubanga Guilty of Using Child Soldiers

Presiding judge Adrian Fulford delivered the verdict. "Chamber concludes that the prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that Mr. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo is guilty of the crimes of conscripting and enlisting children under the age of 15 years into the FPLC and using them to participate actively in hostilities," he said.

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/ICC-Finds-Congolese-Warlord-Guilty-142613986.html

A good thing this video did was raise awareness but I hope people will make an effort to educate themselves about the use of child soldiers around the world.

[dogspeed]

11:55 PM on 03/19/2012

Obama/Kony 2012!

[umkcmoneyman]

11:27 PM on 03/19/2012

What a typical huffpost article. Take anything christian and make them out to be the devil. Some christian groups are more open on gays but yes christians overall are mostly anti-gay by scripture..big deal. So invisible children took money from christians? What about groups who are atheist or feminist who gave to invisible children. I mean half the garbage on this website including the categories are so polarizing and divisive. Rather than create equality the whole vibe on all these articles are so broken up into groups and categories to be so PC. It does way more harm than good.

[Bruce Wilson]

12:04 AM on 03/20/2012

You suggest that the issue is funding given to Invisible Children from 'generic' Christian donors. That is incorrect. The funding foundations in question - such as the NCF - are not generically Christian. They are highly sectarian and support the general doctrine that the Bible is the infallible, inerrant word of God as well as, specifically, Young-Earth creationism.

One of IC's early individual funders was billionaire Philip Anschutz, who helped fund the Discovery Institute and supported Colorado's 1992 anti-gay marriage Amendment 2. Another was the Caster family:

"Invisible Children's first yearly report, from 2006, gives "special thanks" to the "Caster Family Foundation" and IC's 2007 report is more specific, thanking Terry and Barbara Caster. In the lead up to the 2008 election, the California-based Caster family was identified as one of the biggest financial backers of the push for California's anti-same sex marriage Proposition 8."

[ source - http://www.talk2action.org/story/2012/3/11/145213/275 ]

[zanzy]

11:24 PM on 03/19/2012

IC was not doing anything on the ground in northern Uganda for the children who they claim to care so much about and raised money to help. But they have ties to the very fundmentalist christian groups that were committing hate crimes, including murder, of gay and lesbian activists in uganda.

[hellameangirl]

11:22 PM on 03/19/2012

I think I found out where those 100s of 1000s of contribution dollars go..silly video productions!:
http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/post/19460684950/some-critics-have-been-digging-up-old-material

[barakagirl]

11:21 PM on 03/19/2012

Meanwhile more death, destruction and despair in the DRC (where Kony hides)... but hush hush, we don't want the media to shine a light on how corporations are in bed with the warlords so they can loot the country of precious minerals .....

tDRC = corporatism at its best

[Bruce Wilson]

11:32 PM on 03/19/2012

Even the tamped-down 2010 UN Mapping Report (link below) has been generally ignored -- regardless of the estimate that up to 5.4 million civilians perished in the DRC Congo during the 1990s - 2003 conflict.

http://www.hrw.org/news/2010/10/01/dr-congo-un-report-exposes-grave-crimes

And, the march of madness goes on:

"UN peacekeeping troops are backing a Congolese army drive against jungle-based rebel groups that is expected to displace at least 100,000 people and trigger a new wave of instability and human rights abuses across war-ravaged eastern Congo, aid workers and independent analysts have warned.

The new offensive by 5,400 troops of the Democratic Republic of Congo army (FARDC), largely unreported until now, began in South Kivu province, bordering Rwanda and Burundi, on 15 February and is being extended into North Kivu, bordering Uganda, this month." [ UK Guardian, March 16, 2012 - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/16/un-congolese-army-offensive-displace?newsfeed=true ]

[elenor3]

11:21 PM on 03/19/2012

Vigilante "justice" sought with money from hoardes of people,many of whom have no idea who IC staff are and how they're spending their money, is of great concern.Many leaders and officials in Uganda sympathize with saving the children but do not agree with what ICis doing and see IC as ignorant of the facts.
To criticize this group is not,as some commenters have claimed,anti-religious.
There are established groups with excellent reputations who are not there to impose some messianic agenda but to actually help children.II support them.

[Gatorhoya]

11:10 PM on 03/19/2012

Really? The video does a first of its kind job of displaying human rights violations! Why the attacks? I understand that taking money from an anti-gay group is upsetting, but let's do a video to support gay rights that is powerful as this video. All his video displays is that people will watch and they will listen when told about an attoricity! So get to it! The time is now to make your voices heard, not to condemn someone that made it possible!

[Bruce Wilson]

11:40 PM on 03/19/2012

Well, Kony isn't in Northern Uganda anymore. He's in the DRC Congo. And the Ugandan army, now hunting for Kony in the DRC Congo, has been accused, by Western human rights groups, of raping and looting along the way:

http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17456:updf-in-kony-hunt-accused-of-rape-looting

Uganda helped spark the 1990s to 2003 conflict in the DRC Congo estimated to have killed million of innocent civilians -- far more than Kony. And the bloodshed continues, at a somewhat lesser pace.

Here's a documentary that's far more factually based than Invisible Children's KONY 2012 -- " Crisis In The Congo: Uncovering The Truth "

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLV9szEu9Ag

[dogspeed]

11:43 PM on 03/19/2012

Will I get paid?

[Komlan Egoh]

10:51 PM on 03/19/2012

For the sake of completeness, how many other charities have funded Invisible Children? Out of these other funding sources, how many are not "Anti-Gay Christian Groups"? Or better yet, how many can be qualified as the exact opposite?

[Amanda Hout Howell]

10:32 PM on 03/19/2012

I don't see what this has to do with anything. People wonder why this guy is having a mental breakdown. Every single thing he has done regarding this issue is being ridiculed and torn to pieces. All he wanted to do was help. I guess it is true, no good deed goes unpunished.

[FantasticFourFan]

11:03 PM on 03/19/2012

This group works with killers. This is not a minor thing. Why is this so hard to understand?

[Amanda Hout Howell]

11:13 PM on 03/19/2012

They do not work with killers. They took money from a group that may or may not have ties with someone (Scott Lively) who supposedly wrote and/or supported the death penalty bill for being homosexual in Uganda. This is getting ridiculous. Honestly, I don't think that Uganda needs American support to pass such a bill. These people are already religious zealots. Haven't you seen the poo poo video on Youtube? They are anti-gay already. IC was only concerned about capturing a war criminal. Awareness on this particular war criminal was their sole purpose. I think people are being heavy handed with IC because it went viral so fast. Other charities or organizations may not be so squeaky clean if you look at them under the microscope that IC is under right now. I can think of more than a few with questionable practices.

[fgtaylor]

10:22 PM on 03/19/2012

the kony 2012 people are willing to work with anyone who wants to help bring this killer to justice. why is that wrong? does every one have to be perfect in order to work together? what have all these critics done to get kony? absolutely nothing.

[hellameangirl]

10:44 PM on 03/19/2012

First, because its not that simple. The Invisible Children support the President of Uganda and his military, who are guilty of similar crimes including rape, looting and potentially making homosexuality a crime punishable by death. Supporting them is pretty faaaar from perfect. Second, you are WRONG that the critics are doing nothing, there are plenty of PEACE BUILDING organizations, including the UN that are doing much more for Uganda than IC.

[FantasticFourFan]

11:02 PM on 03/19/2012

Because some of those people are killers themselves. All you are doing is trading one murderer for another.