Nonprofit organizations are unique corporate institutions whose primary objective is the fulfillment of an organizational mission. A non-profit organization can only really be identified from a for-profit business by looking at any cash flow. This difference can be seen in both the flow of money into the organization and the resulting outflow of profits. Nonprofit organizations typically receive their funds from operations, donors, and memberships while putting any profits back into the organization. While this may initially seem slightly at odds with the ultimate goals of a for-profit business, these nonprofit organizations cannot achieve their goals without solid financial performance and bottom line results. To do this, public relations plays a critical role in the day-to-day operations of a nonprofit organization, while also presenting a number of distinct challenges. Now more than ever, nonprofit organizations must stand out in the fierce competition for their audiences' money, time, and attention. To achieve this, organizations must respond to such communication challenges as effectively as possible by engaging in strategic and informed public relations activities performed by qualified public relations professionals. However, competition between groups satisfying society's needs may seem like a strange concept. it's a real challenge for non-profit organizations. Each group competes for the same donation pool and also must distinguish itself from for-profit companies that also compete for consumer dollars. Recent economic hardships have only made this competition stiffer and more challenging as charitable giving dropped dramatically from 2007-2009. W… middle of paper… enthusiastic spending may not appear to directly contribute to the sustainability of the organization, however, as we have seen, a consistent and targeted communications effort will do just that. Working under the umbrella of a nonprofit organization can offer public relations professionals the opportunity to creatively approach their craft and take on unique challenges in the workplace. Additionally, the ability to work toward the goal of completing a social mission instead of a strictly bottom-line approach can be an even more rewarding experience. While charitable giving is down from an all-time high in 2007, there is still an extremely large audience of donors and volunteers to reach. The prospect of making the most of these audiences could represent a satisfying and exciting job opportunity for anyone working in the public relations field.