Would You Work for Free?

You may have seen this New York Times article making the rounds this weekend. Slaves of the Internet, Unite! is a thoughtful piece about the absurdity of content producers (writers, bloggers, speakers, etc.) frequently being asked to do work - to perform their craft - without pay. You know, for exposure.
The question of "would you work for free" is such a loaded topic. Yes, there is certainly some value in getting exposure - but exposure don't pay the bills, yo.
My answer isn't totally black and white. While I am confident in the fact that my creative work has value (and I have politely declined many requests for design work or writing that were without compensation or far below what fair compensation would be for the project), I am open to the doing the right project "for exposure".
So what defines the right project?
Again, that's a little grey. A couple of examples I can think of would be providing content or artwork for a non-profit that I believe in and support; writing a guest blog post for a good friend; or producing something in exchange for something else of equal value (which would not be working for free, per se, but bartering). The catch with all of these? They must align with my ethos, style, and brand.
So, my savvy readers - what are your thoughts on this topic? Would you work for free? Why or why not?
Also, if you've never seen the Should I Work for Free flowchart by the brilliant Jessica Hische, you totally should.
Happy Monday!