Things that are not driven by profit are driven by passion. And that makes all the difference. There is nothing wrong with profit but there is something phenomenal about passion. When you work despite the fact that you would not get anything in return, you give it all you have. That helps us transcend from ordinary to extra ordinary, from anybody to somebody. It is the joy and satisfaction of contributing something with commitment that keeps the spark alive. It comes with a fresh outlook, an air of "non-propriety", "non-eula". It is a simple attempt to give back a little to the world from which you have got, everything you are today. The non profit associations give a greater feeling of fulfillment and life. It might not be the source of income. But it surely grows into a source of well being. Also such creative activities need not always be time hungry, you can still continue to live as before, because all you seem to fill are those "anyway-wasted" hours. However as soon as an idea springs up, worthy of such an effort, the biggest hurdles it faces are that of sustainence, prejudices and the unreasonably high threshold for success. During the days of start or turmoil it is a big challenge to keep up the "headcount", money inflows and tempo. As no matter how much we pretend, at core we are still humans! Soon personal interests overshadow public promises. But once that tough stage is passed it is baffling to see, how many people around you wanted to walk on the same road, only that they were looking for some first footsteps. People start coming forward in great numbers and suddenly there is collective brain flooding with ideas all set to bring about a change. Applicable, radical, and "good-for-all" change. Prejudices like, soon resources would dry out, and that, all said and done small group can make only small impact, receive a severe blow. There are enough conclusive evidences to ascertain it. How a non profit web site started by 3 individuals (Cameron Sinclair being one of them) who had nothing but zeal to begin with, was used by 5000 activists to support the victims of Tsunami, is just one example. Cameron provided a forum for people to send in innovative housing solutions and suddenly the results started showing up. No result can be more substantial than saving people dying of lack of shelter. Success definitely seems distant at times but is always attainable nonetheless. Also when I have nothing to lose, its easier to do something for somebody who for a change, is not me.