i run seti because i believe there is more in the universe than the life on planet earth. there are so many galaxies and planets and solar systems that its almost ignorant to think that we are "it" in the universe.
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.