A successful clean-up event involves 50 participants for the on-campus environmental club. For a local chapter of a national human rights awareness organization, a concert draws 150 people spread throughout the day. A justice and advocacy movie week attracts about 10 to 15 people a night.

In the first hour of the a two-day movie screening designed to raise awareness about child soldiers in Uganda on Tuesday night, 140 viewers filed into the bleachers of the University Recreation Center’s Special Events Room. The president of the organization said she expects many more tonight, because members will make classroom tours spreading the word about the event.

Last semester, a similar movie screening drew in about 700 viewers.

Although members of advocacy groups on campus say they face difficulties engaging students in their cause, Invisible Children, a local manifestation of a national nonprofit addressing the situation in northern Uganda, seems to have it down. Professors and students involved in social activism say advertisement techniques, timing and networking may be reasons behind the attraction.

In the organization’s first fiscal year, 90 percent of its income came from donations of $20 or less from high school or college students, said Jared Stauffer, 19, a “roadie,” or volunteer from the organization’s headquarters in California.

“I can’t tell you why it has grown to the size that it has,” he said. “Other nonprofits have contacted us asking, ‘How do you get these kids to do what they’re doing?'”

Seth Harris, a senior international economics major and member of Frogs for Fair Trade, said he and his fellow members of the movement have faced the challenge of coming up with a language to portray a cause that can move and get through to people.

For Invisible Children, that language can be found in films.

The northern Ugandan children’s story reached American soil when three college students from California returned home with it on film. The documentary film, “Invisible Children: Rough Cut,” became the booming organization’s vehicle to the forefront of social movement among the nation’s youth. Invisible Children Inc. was founded based on the first viewers of the film in 2003.

“Video moves people,” said Ashley Young, a junior advertising/public relations major and president of the local chapter. “When you see a music video on MTV, it’s different from someone telling you there’s a cool song.”

Brittany Ray, a senior advertising/public relations major, said she attended the screening Tuesday because since she attended the screening last semester, she wants to keep herself posted on the Uganda situation.

Andy Fort, a religion professor and one of the pioneers of Hunger Week, said certain issues attract more people partly because they are compatible with the culture at the time.

“Hunger, in the ’80s, was super big because hunger was super big,” Fort said.

He said despite the fact that hunger always exists, people are drawn to different issues because hunger is no longer the “temper of the time.”

Fort also said networking is an important factor in social movements.

“Most people do things because people they know and like do it,” he said.

Stauffer said the organization doesn’t officially affiliate itself with a specific religious group to avoid limiting its scope, but that he and most his colleagues are Christian.

Keith Whitworth, a sociology professor and faculty sponsor of Invisible Children, said there is a tie between churches and the organization, and a lot of support comes from church youth groups.

Harris said religion may provide a built-in network of people for Invisible Children. In contrast, the Fair Trade movement doesn’t necessarily have a religious backing and it tries to appeal to individuals rather than a large bloc formed by a religious affiliation, he said.

But Stauffer said he doesn’t see the religion aspect as something that has helped the organization.

“What really helped was the family and friends continuing to retell the story,” he said. “Awareness is huge with peace.”

When: 8 p.m. today Where: University Recreation Center Special Events Room