There's been a lot of ink spilled about the KONY 2012 video, the most successful cause video of all time (and most viral video ever). But I haven't seen a lot of discussion around the campaign that surrounded the video, that is at least as responsible for its success. And while Invisible Children has faced controversy - in my opinion much more than they deserve - I'd rather turn this into a constructive dialogue on how other causes can learn from their incredible success.

In my view, most of the larger, more well known NGO's won't produce a communications piece this successful, unless they radically change their structures. Here are 6 reasons most NGO's will never make a KONY, and some lessons we can take to improve our campaigns for this exciting new world.

Today's digital teams have evolved far beyond merely being a publishing shop for the institution on the web. Today there are three primary, and strategically critical, functions of internal digital teams:

• Publishing - from making simple text pages, keeping important content up to date, to writing and creating rich media like photos, videos, and infographics that tell the stories of your work
• Mobilization (or engagement, if you're not an advocacy org) - pushing content out to various supporter lists and social media, content promotion, as well as community listening, volunteer management, and organizing
• Strategic consultancy - working hand in hand with various internal clients to figure out the most effective way to publish and promote their work, while also leading larger institutional priorities

There are few progressive issues we can look back at over the last 10 years that show measurable and sustained progress. This fact alone should greatly humble NGO campaigners, consultants, and funders alike. Yet at the same time there have been some incredible successes – from the growth of Avaaz to 12M+ members, to the Arab Spring, Obama’s election in 2008, and the early days of the Occupy Wall Street movement, that may point to the power of new, networked models of campaigns showing a new way.

The common thread among initiatives that are struggling is centralized leadership in strongly hierarchical, highly independent, professionalized organizations. Many recent growth leaders take more of a network-centric approach to campaigning, with more flat, nimble structures, strong reliance on partnerships, and importantly people-powered engagement models at their core.