AI employs several persuasive techniques to overcome their constraints.
One strategy Amnesty International attempts to use in hopes of overcoming the internal constraint of gaining revenue and the external constraint of getting members and non-members to act is petitions. This is "when the activists must marshal evidence and arguments to support their position, indicate how many people they represent and characterize their followers" (BOJ 19). AI's petitions are made up of testimonials, which are first hand accounts of persecution which are intended to spark an emotional reaction within the reader and fear appeals. There is a relationship between fear and action - strong fear appeals yield more action. They use the fear of actually experiencing the persecution to gain support and financial stability. A petition is AI's way of asking for action and revenue.
AI uses testimonials and fear appeals to draw attention toward an issue that, more often than not, is distant to many of the potential members. It is imperative to gain such support in order to aid in the human rights cause. We see this time and time again in various AI petitions. One of the most memorable was that of Saadet Akkaya. The petition goes on to describe the persecution she experienced from the Turkish Police.
They made me stand on a chair, put blankets across my arms, and tied me to a cross with ropes. When they took away the chair, I was hanging by my arms (Akkaya 203).
This excerpt was meant to create such a strong emotional response. It is used so that hopefully the reader will feel empathy for the persecuted and thus feel an obligation to act out. The action could be in the for m of sending a letter to the leader of the establishment who administered the persecution or sending money to help AI become financially stable so it will prevent it from happening to them. The strategy is that the fear of the personal account will drive people to support the organization through action and revenue.
