A well-executed cartoon can intrigue potential donors right into your direct-mail package.

By Stu Heinecke

When we created the last-issue onsert used by the Arthritis Foundation to prompt membership renewals, I didn’t make fun of the disease or those afflicted with it. Instead, I focused on the critical role members play in the search for a cure. And how that search for a cure would be compromised without their continued help. Along the way, we gave recipients hope and recognition, and they rewarded us with a stream of responses that established the onsert as a control for more than 15 years.