This interview series with our #Nonprofit Service Provider Classifieds advertisers aims to unveil the stories and motivations behind those who specialise in uplifting and guiding the nonprofit community.

In this interview, we chat with Warren Lodge, founder of LifeBrand.

Tell me about yourself and what inspired you to focus your career on the nonprofit sector?

I’m Warren Lodge, and I was born in Transkei in 1981 and later moved to Port Elizabeth. After studying Computer Science and then Marketing at university, I started my career in advertising.

My journey into the nonprofit sector was a bit of an accident. After working in advertising, I had an existential moment in my early 30s. I asked myself if I wanted to be in the advertising industry for the next 30 years or if I wanted to follow my passion for creativity and conceptualising business ideas that make a meaningful difference.

I decided to quit my job and branch out on my own. Studying branding at a postgraduate level gave me a lens to see how powerful brands can be in influencing behaviour and culture. I realised I could use these skills to work with brands that were making a real difference in the world.

This led me to start LifeBrand, focusing on working with nonprofits and impact-driven organisations. One of our first nonprofit clients was African Scholars Fund. We started with redesigning their logo, which led to creating various marketing materials and, eventually, their website. This experience opened doors to more nonprofit work.

What services does LifeBrand offer?

LifeBrand is a communications agency that builds impact brands and amplifies their work through multimedia approaches. We offer services including brand conceptualisation, revamping, creating brand touchpoints, multimedia campaigns, content creation, and partnership programs. We aim to be channel-agnostic, looking at each brand challenge objectively to determine the best approach. LifeBrand has worked with over 150 brands in South Africa and abroad.

 What do you find most rewarding about working with nonprofits?

The most rewarding aspect is seeing the tangible results of the work. For instance, with the Peninsula School Feeding Association, we could see children livening up after a meal, improved school attendance, and improved marks.

LifeBrand is a communications agency that builds impact brands and amplifies their work through multimedia approaches ... We aim to be channel-agnostic, looking at each brand challenge objectively to determine the best approach.

One really touching story was during COVID. We were filming children standing in a queue with ice cream containers, waiting for their food. Some children would sit down on the pavement and just wolf down that food and go back for seconds in order to take some food to their parents. The roles were reversed, children were taking food home to their parents and grandparents.

I asked a volunteer, an ex-nurse, about her most touching moment. She pointed to a child and said, "When that child started to come and collect food, they had sores on their lips, pale skin, and hair-loss due to malnutrition. That same child now has a full head of hair, glowing skin, and looks healthy." Hearing those words was like getting hit in the chest. This is literally life-saving work, and it changes you forever.

It is incredible to see that firsthand! You just feel like you're part of something much bigger than yourself or the organisation that you're working with.

What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced in this sector? How have you overcome them?

The obvious challenge is budget constraints, but there are always ways and means to work around the budget that you have available. Even if that budget only stretches to building capacity within a nonprofit to enable them to do the work. At the end of the day, it's about the work that's being done in the sector, not about making millions.

Another challenge I found was that sometimes there isn't a central decision maker. You might be working with a board and can end up redoing work repeatedly when people can’t agree or make a decision. To overcome this, we now appoint a key contact person that deals with the board and operates as the go-between.

How do you help nonprofit clients accomplish their missions more effectively?

Because I studied branding and marketing, we tend to look at communication problems through a brand lens. We want to understand your brand. What characterises your brand? Does your brand represent the vision of what your organisation is moving toward in the future? Is your brand clear? Is it coherent? Is that clarity being pulled through every touch point, and are you differentiated from your competitors?

That's where we like to start. And everything else builds on that. Concentric circles build on that initial core brand construct. Your visual and verbal language stems from that. So we help organisations crystallise their visual and verbal communication.

What do you wish more people understood about working with nonprofits?

I think that from the outside, there could be a perception that we need to feel sorry for nonprofits. They can be seen as these little community organisations with no money. But they are bright, driven, loving, dynamic people; professionals that are moving this country forward.

There are such exciting things happening within the space. I didn't know that I could actually make a living working with nonprofits and focusing on my passion. But the more I'm in the sector, the more I realise how many aspects there are to civil society. Things like: how many innovations are being developed and implemented, and how many entrepreneurs there are in the sector.

There are international organisations with global footprints that we've had the joy of working with, and they are run more efficiently than a lot of companies that I encountered in my previous 10 years working in the corporate sector.

Of course, the sector isn't perfect, and there are challenges. But the depth of expertise, the level of innovation, and the passion for creating positive change that you find in the nonprofit world is truly inspiring.

The nonprofit space is a challenging one to work in, whether you are nonprofit staff or a service provider. What do you do to take care of yourself?

We take organisations through sequential steps, and work through a process with them. This co-creation is important because organisations need to own their brand and their communications.

Self-care is crucial in this line of work. For me, my Christian faith provides a grounding influence and gives me confidence. I'm also blessed with a supportive family. We often talk about our day and unpack things together, which helps maintain balance and perspective.

Health and fitness are also important to me. I try to get out regularly for trail running or mountain biking. These activities help clear my mind and keep me energised. In our office, we encourage our team to take healthy breaks, stay hydrated, and support each other.

What do you think sets your company or your services apart in the nonprofit services sector? In other words, why should nonprofits work with you?

The people at LifeBrand are ‘people's people’. We are professional, empathetic and kind, and that sets the tone of who we are and what we do. You can have similar skills to someone else, but you stand out through your approach.

We're innately curious about organisations. We ask a lot of questions. We tend to listen and try to immerse ourselves in the space and get as many details as possible. That is what helps us to create good comms or reconstruct a brand - through empathy, listening, and understanding.

We take organisations through sequential steps, and work through a process with them. This co-creation is important because organisations need to own their brand and their communications. There's a wealth of expertise and human capital within these organisations. They are experts in their fields. Our job is to guide them to represent that from a communications perspective.

Ultimately, what sets us apart is our commitment to truly understanding and amplifying the important work our clients are doing. We're here to help impactful organisations tell their stories and achieve their missions more effectively.

• Visit the LifeBrand website