I think that it's a sure bet that "we are not alone". I started running seti because I think it's a "very" worthwhile project. It's cool to have the opprotunity to proticipate in something like this. A 100 years from now, or tomorrow, when we make contact for the first time. People will look back on this time as where it all started.
SETI@home and Astropulse are funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and donations from SETI@home volunteers. AstroPulse is funded in part by the NSF through grant AST-0307956.