Flickr Photo: dominocatWhere were you in 2001?

It was just a few short years ago, but those of us who have worked in nonprofit technology since then probably all feel the same way: it was eons ago. In 2001, I was running around the country working with women's organizations on some really high-tech stuff -- like convincing their fundraising staff to move donor data into a database, off of three by five cards.

We've come a long way as a sector since then. More nonprofits are embracing technology than ever before. We do less evangelizing and more teaching. So I was surprised when a board member suggested that I should re-read a paper Andrew Blau wrote in 2001 for the Surdna Foundation. What could a paper about technology investments written in 2001 mean to any of us in 2008?