Case Study

How Australia Tibet Council mobilised supporters to lobby for legislation that would end the isolation of Tibet

Contents

Australia Tibet Council campaigns for the freedom and human rights of Tibetans. Their vision is a free Tibet in which Tibetans can determine their own future and freely pursue their cultural, political and economic developments.

Tibet Lobby Day is a flagship advocacy initiative of Australia Tibet Council and involves a delegation of Tibetans meeting with as many politicians in Canberra as possible to share their stories and garner support for the Tibet cause. This year, Australia Tibet Council focused on building the foundations for an Australian law to help end the isolation of Tibet.

The proposed bill aims to end China’s isolation of Tibet from the outside world by calling on the Chinese government to grant Australian journalists, diplomats and tourists unrestricted access to Tibet.

The Problem

As Tibet is an international issue, Australia Tibet Council needed their supporter base to help make meeting with Tibetans a priority for their elected representatives. Australia Tibet Council asked supporters to email their MPs and Senators and encourage them to meet with their Tibetan delegation in Canberra.

The Solution

Australia Tibet Council used Engaging Network’s email to target functionality to mobilize supporters to maximize the number of meetings they could secure.

  • This involved giving the campaign a new dimension. A key part of the email-to-target campaign was categorizing politicians into supportive, interested, uninterested or undecided categories. This gave supporters a clearer understanding of where their elected representatives stand on the Tibet issue.
  • The Australia Tibet Council tailored the constituents’ messages to speak more personally to the MPs & Senators, acknowledging their past support.
  • Supporters were asked to make a donation following the action to help provide critical resources to continue their work until genuine freedom is won by the Tibetans.
  • Different email asks were introduced for donors and non-donors, recognizing their prior financial support of the organisation where appropriate.
  • Supporters were asked to forward the responses they received from their MPs confirming they would meet with the delegation to the team. This meant the Australia Tibet Council could incorporate this insight for their action toolkit, which also encompassed fundraising, media and policy work.

The Results

Compared to the previous year, the number of people visiting the Tibet Lobby Day donation page and taking the “Email your MP” action increased by 37% (compared to the last email to target action).

The number of meetings secured with MPs and Senators increased by 52%, which resulted in 1.29% of people who emailed their MPs, going on to make an immediate donation.

A big thank you

At Engaging Networks, we’re proud to work with great charities like Australia Tibet Council who campaign for freedom and human rights. Many thanks to Australia Tibet Council for collaborating on this content. To learn more about this great cause visit their website.

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