CATEGORY

Viken Mikaelian

Viken Mikaelian founded PlannedGiving.com in 1998 and has spent nearly three decades advising and training nonprofit professionals responsible for billions in charitable gifts. He has presented at over 500 fundraising conferences and is widely published on planned giving strategy. Viken is the publisher of GIVING Magazine and founder of Philanthropy.org.
What We Don’t Do
Company News
Viken Mikaelian

What We Don’t Do

Companies like to boast about what they do. Apparently, many firms also like to do far more than they should. More and more in the planned giving community I see “marketing” firms promising their clients the world.

Read More »
Kill Your Print Marketing Campaign
Planned Giving Marketing
Viken Mikaelian

How To Kill Your Print Marketing Campaign

Direct mail is king. But kings can be dethroned. Well-intentioned organizations do it all the time. Avoid these common mistakes to ensure your direct mail campaign is as kingly as it should be.

Read More »
Marketing Planned Giving to Advisors
Planned Giving for Financial Advisors
Viken Mikaelian

Marketing Planned Giving to Advisors

In a perfect world, all of your benefactors who receive your planned giving mailing will immediately decide it’s a good idea, call their advisor for the go ahead, and then make your institution a gift that changes not only the trajectory of your long-term revenue goals, but your career as well.

Read More »
Prepare and Achieve
Self Improvement & Career
Viken Mikaelian

Prepare and Achieve

You know that feeling of spinning your wheels? That feeling you get when you are burning through time and exhausting yourself yet having little to show for it in the end? Preparation is critical, but what gives you bragging rights at the end of the day is the action you take

Read More »
Better Than Average
Self Improvement & Career
Viken Mikaelian

Better Than Average

Do you wish to be better than average in your career and in your life? If you do, then you need to behave in a better than average fashion. It’s an obvious statement, but an endless number of people belie this sound reasoning.

Read More »
Email vs. U.S. Mail
Planned Giving Marketing
Viken Mikaelian

Email vs. U.S. Mail

Trying to save money by using eMarketing? Think again. According to the 2015 Response Rate Report by Direct Marketing Association (who also does eMarketing), direct mail outperforms all digital channels in a big way. The response rate for direct mail was 600% higher than that all of the digital channels combined. This number is too big to ignore.

Read More »
King and Queen on a chess board along with a few members of the "army"
Company News
Viken Mikaelian

A Message from the CEO

First, a Thank You For those of you who are reading this and are clients of mine, I truly thank you for your business. When I started in 1998, I did it with the goal to make planned giving accessible to your average prospect. At the time, planned giving was so bogged down with legalese and mind-numbing details that fundraisers were intimidated and donors befuddled. We’ve come a long way since then, but there’s still a shocking number of fundraisers taking

Read More »
Giving Magazine, Karen Alonso on Cover, United Way Las Vegas, AFP Chapter President

Giving Magazine

For those who drive change — not watch it. Join the top 1%.

>