Recently, I was thinking about the “good ole days”. I’m not one to spend a lot of time living in the past, but I had a thought… and that thought has stuck with me.

Back when I was Susanne v2.0 (I’m now at Susanne v4.0), I was living it large in the “go-go” days of the dotcom boom. In these crazy times, I had more work as a interactive product and user interface designer than I could ever do. Silicon Valley venture capitalist were literally throwing money at any engineer with a start-up idea, and many of those start-ups were throwing money at me so I would help them design their “next big thing” on the Internet. It was a heady time. I charged an hourly rate equivalent to a nicely paid attorney and could not find enough hours in the week to service all the clients that wanted me.

In those days, I worked redesigning Microsoft.com, did work on Evite, Egreetings, Standard & Poors, William-Sonoma and many, many others. My plate was full, as was my bank account. Life was good. (You can see samples of my work on my site business site The Accelerator)

But not really.

Something was missing from my life and that something was about giving back to society more substantially than designing the next Yahoo!. I was fortunate. I had a group of friends who had a similar feeling and together we founded Social Venture Partners Bay Area. SVP, originally started in Seattle, is a partner-funded and driven venture philanthropy fund. Together, the founding partners of SVPBA contributed $500,000 to our first fund and each of us donated time and energy toward our mission of “creating better outcomes for youth” in San Francisco. We decided to adopt a neighborhood (a technique called a Comprehensive Community Initiative) and we got to work.

The neighborhood we adopted is called SOMA (South of Market). It is a rough neighborhood where the Sixth Street Jail releases recently paroled criminals to the streets. Most families had to work 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet, and a vast majority of the children had no adult supervision after school. From 2-6pm, they were on their own, writing their own destiny on the streets of a bad neighborhood.

We, at SVPBA, decided to step in and help out. One of our initiatives, together with Mercy Corps., was a new after school program for kids in three low-income housing projects called MAT (Motivational Achievements Together). With a safe place to go, a snack to eat, homework help and educational activities, it was amazing to see these kids thrive.

In the meanwhile, I continued down the path of the “go-go” days, making money building websites that were great, but didn’t fill my soul. And then one day I had my crucible moment.

It was a crisp, fall San Francisco day. I was consulting to Pottery Barn, designing the online gift registry for www.potterybarnkids.com. My Mom will tell you that I called her and said “In the morning, I’m designing a site to help rich moms buy rich furnishings for the kids of their rich friends, and in the afternoon, I’m with these amazing kids who haven’t eaten all day! In the grand scheme of things, who cares if the crib and the night light should go on the same web page when this kid’s dad was arrested this morning.”

I couldn’t live this life anymore.

So I did what any normal insane person would do. I quit Pottery Barn. OK, so I had my first crazy “save the world” moment, and it felt great. I threw myself into working with the MAT kids, developing bonds with them like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I spent as much time volunteering at MAT as I could. And I decided that I was going to dedicate myself completely to working for clients who were trying to make a difference.

Transitioning to working with social enterprises, non-profits and academics institutions has been incredibly rewarding. I’ve helped clients solve problems and become more sustainable, and even continued to do web design — but only for organizations with a social component to their mission. But to be honest, the huge drawback is money. Where I used to make 3X per hour consulting to the Microsofts of the world, I now make X per hour consulting to the Harvards of the world. My reward otherwise, is greater. Perhaps even my influence is greater. But influence doesn’t pay the rent.

I’m coming to the end of my big Harvard project next month and have started looking for my next gig. It’s harder than it ever has been before because it truly matters to me what kind of work I am willing to take on. As well, as an adjunct lecturer at The Kennedy School of Government on Leadership & Social Enterprise, it is hard for me to justify to my students if I were designing a site for a cigarette company. With my moral compass set at my own true North, it makes making a living all the more challenging.

And so what have I learned from all of this? I’ve learned that in my version of The Social Age, I choose mission over money. It makes my life a bit harder, a lot less secure and much more frugal. But most of the time, I am fulfilled. I wish it were different. I wish I could find a corporate client working on a great sustainability initiative (I actually did one for Pacific Gas & Electric called Let’s Green This City) or a social responsibility program. Or a website that is offering the greatest social network in the world for connecting people interested in the greater good. I’m sure it will come to me someday soon. I’ve learned patience in The Social Age.

So I ask you to examine your own Money vs. Mission balance. Perhaps you won’t be as extreme as I was — quitting my line of work for a more meaningful one — but maybe you will make other adjustments. Join a non-profit board, do a day with Habitat for Humanity, or volunteer at Boy & Girls Clubs.

All I ask, is that you Get Involved. Together and individually, we can make a huge difference in the world.