Career Center Blog

In honor of this month’s Not-for-Profit Career Expo, we are featuring U-M alumni who have established successful careers in the nonprofit sector. This post comes from U-M alum Ryan Doyle (LSA ’08). As as a student, Ryan followed his passion and discovered his purpose by founding his own nonprofit organization, Live to Give Foundation. Here is his inspiring story and advice for those interested in entrepreneurial and/or nonprofit careers.

I was your average college student—going to class, studying for exams, and partying in between. I kept hearing that this was “the best time of your life, so enjoy it,” so I did. It wasn’t until one night three Octobers ago during my junior year that I discovered how blissfully unaware I was that something in my life was missing. I was embarking on my higher education, but I wasn’t even scratching the surface of my higher thinking. That is, until a 60 Minutes special and a TV show challenged me to dive head first into my purpose and passion. It was time to start my own company—my own non-profit organization.

How does a 20-year-old college student start his own non-profit?  It was a daunting question that I began to answer by just opening a Word document and typing. Once my thoughts were written down, ignoring the obvious lack of structure and misspellings, I could begin researching, asking questions, getting feedback and assembling resources. After six months, I asked my best friend to run the company with me and within the next year I had a team of ten young entrepreneurs helping me propel the vision of Live to Give Foundation.

Almost two and a half years later, I find myself with a fire in my belly everyday because I am a 24-year-old business owner and public speaker advocating that my community join me in rebuilding the state of Michigan. While that provides a general idea of what my life has become, an average day consists of working 9:00-5:00 for the University’s football team, then an evening filled with the duties of running a non-profit and eventually a little “me time.”

Now that you have a glimpse of my non-profit experience, you may be wondering: how do you begin and advance your own and why should you? First and foremost, whether you want to start your own non-profit or simply work for one, I encourage you to do so because it will make you feel good. You are constantly generating results that make a difference. Those you affect will not only humble you, but you will be fulfilled for being a change agent. Secondly, like any job, it is important to develop your area of expertise by learning, volunteering and interning. The non-profit industry is the best industry to earn valuable experience because every single organization needs volunteers. Thirdly, network, network, network. Go to career fairs, attend events, join student organizations, engage through social media, email and set up coffee meetings with local professionals. Take the time to meet the people who are “doing it” and don’t forget a piece of paper and pencil! Lastly, don’t enter this industry unless you have unmatched passion and unwavering persistence for the work. It is, for the most part, an underpaid industry with little resources, not enough time, and emotionally taxing.

So, that is my story and advice in a nutshell.  Of greater importance is what I can hopefully leave with you as you go about your journey into your non-profit career. If you are reading this, maybe you have some ideas of how to make the industry better. Perhaps you are the type who needs to feel like they are giving back in some fashion. Just maybe, you are an idealist who thinks you can change the world. Whatever your reason, I challenge you to ask yourself the following as it regards to your job search, career path, or start-up idea, as this question is one that I asked myself three short years ago. If you could do anything in the world, what would it be and what is keeping you from it?

Ryan Doyle was recently voted by Metro Detroiters to speak at the first-ever Ignite Detroit, a public speaking forum taking place on February 25 at the Magic Stick in Detroit. He also has plans to collaborate with several groups of young social entrepreneurs and organizations in Ann Arbor as spring approaches. If you have any interest in following up with Ryan and Live to Give Foundation or want to see how you can get involved, contact him at ryan.doyle@livetogivefoundation.org.