About Us

Viken Mikaelian, Founder

In 1999, Viken co-founded VirtualGiving.Com, the first company focused specifically on "Bringing Planned Giving to the Internet." Since then, VirtualGiving has helped over 400 non-profits get their planned giving programs on the Web, published numerous white papers, and conducted various national surveys to help you and your peers.

Viken is also the founder of Planned Giving.Com, LLC, which is a powerful resource with ready-to-go, downloadable planned giving content for all gift planners. He is also publisher of Planned Giving Tomorrow, a quarterly publication packed with planned giving marketing ideas for all fundraisers — not just planned giving executives.

Viken is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. His major area of concentration for the past 19 years has been development communications, producing over 1600 publications for capital campaigns and planned giving programs. His former marketing firm’s portfolio includes numerous awards, including five from CASE.

Viken’s expertise in combining planned giving principles with marketing and technology tools to explain planned giving to the lay prospect continues to be his driving force in the gift-planning community. In the past 9 years alone, Viken has presented at over 220 planned giving councils, AFP and AHP chapters, foundations and banks, including 4 presentations at PPP (formerly National Committee on Planned Giving).

Scott Janney, President

Scott has walked both sides of the aisle – we’re talking about fundraiser and consultant. He has plenty of war stories to tell ... from the 100-year-old who asked for a gift annuity illustration to the 98-year-old who said, “You haven’t done any business today,” because he was on his way out the door without asking for the gift. Then there’s the man who almost funded a gift annuity for himself and a nine-year-old. Scott is also a dedicated father of a wonderful son, David, who at the age of 5 loves watching Curious George and calculating (Variable Rate) Charitable Gift Annuities.

Scott holds an Ed. D. in Educational Administration from Temple University, a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, and an undergraduate degree from Kentucky’s Asbury College.

As resumes go, Scott’s is substantive and diverse. He started his development career at Biblical Theological Seminary and Temple University, where he introduced a highly successful planned gifts marketing program as part of a $300 million campaign. Next, he launched the first planned giving program at the suburban St. Mary Medical Foundation, bringing in over $8 million in bequest commitments from the 41 charter members of the Legacy Society. Scott also closed the largest gift in the hospital’s history: a combined cash and trust gift of $1.25 million. As Director of Planned Giving for Main Line Health, Scott raised more than $10,000,000 in FY 2008 while creating coalitions with the legal department, business office, external wealth advisors and attorneys.

Scott is a co-founder and presenter of Planned Giving Boot Camp and The Planned Giving Course, and has been a driving force behind Philadelphia’s Planned Giving Day for the past eight years. He is a highly effective communicator and sought-after speaker at the National Conference on Philanthropic Planning (formerly the National Conference on Planned Giving), Planned Giving Councils, and AFP chapters. He has been a Certified Fund Raising Executive since 1997 and earned the designation of Registered Financial Consultant in 2008.

While he has “just a drop of Irish blood,” Scott is a full-fledged fan of Irish music and loves to play the fiddle. In his younger and wilder days he did play in a few pubs. He is still known to take out his fiddle at local planned giving events (not). Scott is also somewhat of a nerd, bringing his experiences as a former professor of statistics and finance to his planned giving speaking engagements. He loves painting simple word pictures that make complicated concepts easier to understand.

Scott is married to writer Rebecca Price Janney, author of Then Comes Marriage: A Cultural History of the American Family and 18 other books. The Janneys live in East Norriton, about ten minutes from Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

Joe Tumolo, Sales

A graduate of Saint Joseph's University, Joe has spent over 20 years in direct mail and marketing. For the last 5 years he has helped with non-profits across the nationto find ways to deliver a simpler, more benefits driven message about gift planning to raise more and larger gifts. But Joe is not just about sales. Like Viken Mikaelian, he frequently presents on the topic of planned giving marketing at various planned giving councils, AFP chapters and other fundraising groups. Joe is passionate about providing solutions and not just making a sale. “It’s the only way to keep a client for life.”

Megan Clemens, Director of Marketing

Megan is a graduate of Grove City College and joined VirtualGiving in 2006. Her interpersonal and organizational skills helped her move from an administrative position to a management position within 12 months. Megan currently helps manage PlannedGiving.Com and its sister company, VirtualGiving. She also assists with editing and producing Planned Giving Tomorrow, a very well respected quarterly that focuses on planned giving marketing ideas for all fundraisers, and not just gift planners alone.

Megan’s high energy and capacity to “think outside the box” have been an immense asset to the company. She works closely with Scott Janney and Viken Mikaelian to keep the company focused on its goals, mission and vision.