We at eSteem use rewards received from beneficiaries for further development of our apps and make sure our user's receive more benefits using our apps with good user experience and extra addons, monthly spotlight, discord giveaways, encouragement support, etc. Think of this as a support for project/app your are using. Many apps are startups and they are trying to find viable and sustainable business model to evolve. When SMT comes out things may be different. Those who supported project long time might receive certain benefits, perks, etc.