The messaging that moves your donors
Strategized. Crafted. Sent.
Strategy that clarifies your mission and unpacks the stories of your impact
Nonprofit copy & marketing for multi-million dollar orgs
Copywriting that evokes “I want to be a part of this”
Project management that sees everything through to the end
You’re doing world-changing work
The heartfelt thank yous you get from on the ground, the photos, the stories – they’re what keep you going.
And you know they’re what would keep your donors giving too – if only they heard them.
We take the lead on nurturing your donors
Building your campaign from kernel to concept with a full set of on-theme materials that are ready to send
Dinner brochure for Tamim Academy’s new building campaign
Understanding what you’re doing, knowing what to highlight and sharing it in a way that’s impossible to ignore.
Re-engagement email highlighting the impact of Merkaz L’Taharas Hamishpacha’s work
Keeping ourselves up to date on the happenings in your org, so finding what to share is not your burden
Quarterly newsletter updating donors about Colel Chabad’s impact and activities
Proactively suggesting new ideas that are a fit for your fundraising goals, then carrying them out
Unique mailer for Yaldei’s camp fund campaign, crafted as a letter from camp
The reason they keep coming back
-
For 15 years I was looking for Shterna Lazaroff
I’ve worked on year-end campaigns in the past. It's stressful. You're not sleeping. [this time], we had a plan. [Shterna] wrote brilliant copy. And you just felt – over the week of putting out all the content – that it was a great, uplifting story.
My job was simply to be on the phone, reaching out to donors. The emails were on schedule, the text messages were on schedule. Every day a packet was delivered to the team, “This is what we're posting today, you can copy this, use that…” Everything was just so seamless. It was incredible.
For 15 years, I was looking for Shterna Lazaroff, and I'm so glad, baruch Hashem, that I was able to find her.
– Rabbi Dovid Leib Shur
Yaldei -
She and her team bring it all the way to the finish line
[With Shterna], as soon as the concept is agreed upon, I know there's somebody else who will bring it over until the finish line. It's not like four weeks later, it ends up back on my desk on third base, and then I need to get back to it. I know as soon as I hand it to her, it's ready to go to print. The next stop is the print shop, PDF. But on the other hand, she keeps you involved. You're involved in every step, but it's not your problem, it's her problem. You can be reactive – you don't have to be proactive anymore.
We’ve already put out ten magazines in the past two and a half years, and it's really a pleasure working with Shterna – she and her team bring it all the way to the finish line.
– Rabbi Zalman Duchman
Colel Chabad -
It gives people a reason to give and continue giving
What she is doing, which I didn't have before, is really having people in the community understand the value of what we're bringing to the table.
For me, this is a very big priority in the community. We think everybody comes to our Chabad house so they see everything. People actually don't know much. Practically, I've been hearing excellent feedback from people on how happy they were to see it.
It gives donors a good understanding of where their dollars are going, and it gives people a reason to give and to continue giving.
– Rabbi Mayer Brook
Village Chabad
You’ve built a force of goodness, from the ground up.
You’ve reached this point through passion, tenacity and raw ingenuity.
We’re here to complement that with science, psychology and honed skill.
I’m Shterna, and my team and I come on board when you need that outside partner
to bring in objective clarity and expert guidance
to build the strategy and copy for a sensitive project
to take on weekly, monthly, or ongoing projects so they’re off your plate
Everything that takes you from "concept" to “complete” – the planning, the content, the project management –
We’ll get it done for you
Shterna’s not just a writer.
I was impressed with her intuitiveness when it came nonprofits and marketing, especially the fundraising components.
– Tzvi Shectman, Phone Raise
How we tell your stories
Cornerstone Project
When you’re working on something big that will shape your donors’ perception and you want to get it right.
What we’re aiming for with every Cornerstone Project:
“Captured what we wanted to convey”
“Put our entire goal into writing”
“Better than anything I could have hoped for.”
Unlimited Marketing
With this package, we become your marketing department, setting strategy, creating campaigns, and managing ongoing execution to keep donors connected.
The results we hear, baruch Hashem, with this service:
“They already gave during the [recent] campaign. Some were signed up as recurring sponsors. But one week’s email inspired them, and they swiped their card again.”
“With Shterna, you’re going to get really good work, really good copy.”
– Mendy Kahanov, PushkaHub
Even the best copy won’t work in a vacuum.
Copy that’s backed by strategy
You’ve done this long enough to know “incoming funds will triple in three weeks” is (almost never!) the case. We’re not ones for flowery words and million-dollar promises.
What we will say: our concepts and copy are based in psychology, rooted in research, and always backed by strategy.
Baruch Hashem, we’ve seen incredible results, time and time again.
Copy that’s tailored to nonprofits
Nonprofit copy is a different craft. Different messaging. Different tone.
Years of focused nonprofit work has taught us a thing or three. We’ve learned what makes a cause personal for donors, and what makes them give (or give again!). See our principles of persuasion for nonprofits.
Copy that makes the finish line
It doesn’t sit in a doc, gathering dust, waiting for your overwhelmed team to send it off.
It doesn’t land back on your desk a month later, still stuck at third base.
For email & digital campaigns: we’ll take care of ESP setup, scheduling, segmentation, triggers, opt-outs, basic design, and A/B testing.
For print or non-digital campaigns: we collaborate with your designer and stay involved till it’s at the print shop (and beyond).
We’ll see it through to the end.
Ends, means, and every word we write are guided by a value system
Working with Jewish nonprofits and using our skills for incredibly meaningful causes is a privilege.
It's also a responsibility – one we shoulder with a clear set of values.
The messaging that moves nonprofits
(All pulled from actual client conversations)
Before
“People think we’re awesome but they don’t really get what we do day-to-day…”
“We had a successful campaign but I couldn't sleep the entire week…”
“Our design was great but our messaging was all over the place…”
“Our walkathon fell short of its goal, and I needed a way to reach out to our supporters effectively…”
“I was very uninspired with the copy I was coming up with for our campaign…”
“We struggled to effectively produce regular communications to our supporters…”
“We needed to write a letter to our previous donors whom we hadn't interacted with in a year…”
After
“She did a really good job understanding what I needed and adding strategic insight.”
“She has an unbelievable talent of being able to condense a story without condensing the message or missing the point.”
“She “gets” it – the first version is always near-perfect.”
“People really love the messages. People are replying who I haven't heard from in a long time.”
“Even our – often critical – team was on board because she took the time to explain the process, and they could see they were working with someone who understands nonprofits, marketing, and writing.”
“She shines at bringing out the detail and emotions that bring real results. The materials accomplished exactly what [we were] hoping for.”
“Her tone was exactly what I needed to inspire my community to act.”
“What she delivered was phenomenal – a strong theme, great writing. It gave our campaign a huge lift.”
“It tripled the return of donations from previous years.”
“Everyone is struggling now I'm sure you know, and it was difficult, but ultimately I finished my campaign with at least $10,000 more than last year's.”
“Her work moved our organization forward in a major way and had a lasting impact on our team.”
– Aviva Lahmany, Aleph Institute