Lobby Map: uniting online audiences into community lobbies

What is the Lobby Map?
More than anything else, in-person lobby meetings make the strongest impact on policymakers and politicians - direct and personal contact is vital to achieve real change. OneWorld's Lobby Map is an interactive campaigning tool that organisations can use to mobilise their online supporters into powerful offline local lobbies. In the UK, the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition and Enough Food IF have used the Lobby Map to unite thousands of their supporters.

Enough Food IF used the Lobby Map to unite their supporters.

Image by OneWorld

How does it work?
Once the Lobby Map is set-up for a particular campaign, it can be embedded on an unlimited number of websites, allowing diverse organisations (like The Salvation Army, Friends of the Earth and UNICEF) to connect their supporters into cohesive local lobbies. The Lobby Map then provides these groups with the information and tools they need, including briefing packs and details of their poltical representatives' stances on key issues. The resultant local groups are diverse and effective - and because the Lobby Map automatically tracks which website each user has signed up from, their details can be retained for that organisation only.

Members of the Big Climate Connection meet their MPs.

Image by Stop Climate Chaos Coalition

What's the impact?

• Enough Food IF, a coalition of more than 150 organisations, used OneWorld's Lobby Map in its successful campaign calling on the UK Government to keep its promise that 0.7% of national income would be spent on aid. The coalition announced on 20th March 2013 that  "millions of people living in poverty worldwide now have a brighter future – all thanks to the thousands of campaigners who spoke out and convinced our politicians not to back down." 
• The Stop Climate Chaos Coalition used the Lobby Map for their Big Climate Connection, with the result that thousands of people from all walks of life worked together to organise in-person meetings with 220 MPs. Three years later, local lobby groups are still working together for the good of their community.

Contact: ken.kitson@oneworld.org