There are firms and projects which have benefits which cannot be easily turned into a return for investors (either directly or indirectly) but whose benefit far exceeds the investment of dollars and effort, which are currently severely underfunded (with a lot of variation on the input stream) because the government through a combination of politics and incompetence cannot wisely discriminate between potential recipient, because passersby on the street cannot acquire the requisite facts to make an informed decision, and because corporate entities almost all currently buy into the idea that charity investment is a PR stunt, and nothing more.
It is to the benefit of society to invest in these firms and projects, so if an individual is truly other-centered they may push hard in finding and working for these causes, whose profits don't appear on the bottom line but are spread throughout society.
An example? The all around helpfulness of entrepreneurs, investors and advisors in silicon valley, or hackers here on hacker news. These people put an awful lot of effort into helping out their community, often to absurd lengths: the benefits do not solely or even significantly accrue to them (as is typically the case in profit making entities founded upon an exchange of currency for a good or service), but by their participation the community grows stronger along with their standing in it.