Merkle, a leading information-based database marketing agency, announced that it has won new business with The Arthritis Foundation, the national nonprofit voluntary health agency based in Atlanta, Georgia. With the contract, Merkle is managing and executing a direct marketing pilot program across several states designed to boost participation in The Arthritis Foundation’s 2005 Arthritis Walk(SM), a series of events held throughout the U.S. to increase funding and awareness of arthritis.