Faith in Practice won an Honorable Mention in the Digital Storytelling Online Challenge for their Flickr story submission. I got a chance to connect with Ashley Messick, a winning lady behind the winning organization, to find out more about her work.

What organization do you work for and where are you located?

I work full-time with Faith In Practice (FIP), a nonprofit organization out of Houston, Texas that does medical mission work in Guatemala. I also work part-time, remotely doing social media for Blood Centers of the Pacific (BCP), the community blood center in the San Francisco/Bay Area.

Tell us briefly about the mission of your organization and your work.

The mission of FIP is to improve the physical, spiritual, and economic conditions of the poor in Guatemala through short-term surgical, medical, and dental mission trips and health-related educational programs. I work to coordinate and organize all the aspects of our volunteers' trips down to Guatemala so that they are prepared before leaving and have everything they need while in-country, including customs documents, supplies, hotel, transportation, and more.

BCP seeks to provide an adequate and affordable blood supply which meets the health and safety needs of the public; and to conduct medical and scientific research and education that improves the safety and efficacy of blood transfusions. I began with BCP in the Communications Department doing social media, briefly worked in Donor Recruitment, and now am back in the Communications Department working remotely to continue building our social media presence.

How are you involved with/using TechSoup?

I found TechSoup first through my work with BCP but am slowly trying to find out how to apply all of the wonderful benefits to my work here with FIP as well. I really enjoy reading the articles and posts in the forums. What I enjoyed most about TechSoup are the Net Tuesday MeetUps. When I was in San Francisco, I found the MeetUps to be a phenomenal way to not only hear from other organizations and social media gurus, but to network with others in the same industry.  Now after moving to Houston I was happily surprised to find out there is a NetSquared presence here as well and I look forward to taking part in those events.

Was this your first time for the organization doing a digital story? What was the process like for you? Biggest challenge?

For this Digital Storytelling Challenge it was the first time I had heard of it and to be honest was possibly one of the first steps into the social media realm for FIP. We are a small office and so social media is something we have not quite stepped into completely. However, the beautiful photos we have from our mission trips just speak volumes about the importance of the work we do and I knew that just in those photos we would be able to tell our story. The biggest challenge was determining how to encompass all that we do into just five photos. The advange of working for a small nonprofit like FIP was that I didn't have to go through many avenues to get permission to take part or get approval on which photos to use. I think it would've been harder to stay motivated to take part if there would have been more red tape.

What nonprofits do you admire?

I really admire Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society and Wendy Harmon of The Red Cross. Wayne is a phenomenal example of giving a voice to his organization. Of course I'm sure he has plenty of help within the ranks as well with all of their social media tools. The Red Cross is another great example of a nonprofit whose blog is informative, interesting, and well put together overall. Plus their other social media adventures are always wonderful.

What are a few of your favorite online resources?

I love NTEN and all of their fabulous webinars. Seriously, I have learned so much from them. I just recently got BCP to sign up for the organizational level, which is really a great investment and a way to get some of the people in your nonprofit who don't already have complete "buy-in" to learn more. Their webinars are always well run, informational, and well-priced.

I also of course couldn't live without Beth Kanter's blog and all of the information she puts out there via her Facebook page, Twitter, and other outlets. Beth not only has a wealth of information herself, but she also does an incredible job of getting others to share their stories and knowledge as well. When I first became involved with social media for nonprofits Beth's was the blog I first turned to and she still keeps me coming back for more!

How can others connect with you and your organization?

Connect with me on Facebook, LinkedIn, or follow me @glorysgirl on Twitter.