Sarajoy, participating in David Wiley’s Introduction to Open Education class compares sustainability models across major initiatives such as MIT, Connexions and Open U. She concludes with the following:
The major initiatives seem to be at different stages as regards their “long-term sustainability models.” Some are still blissfully sailing along on the generous surge of Hewlett foundation funding, with no indication that they will ever need another cent beyond it. Some have online “voices” tinged with a faint edge of panic; the presence of “donate” buttons on homepages seems strongly correlated with the age of the initiative and older sites seem much more likely to be promiently touting the benefits of everything from materials submission to coporate sponsorship. Others, like the one cited above, seem to recognize their own impending crises. They are diversifying funding/revenue channels and working to build their brands. One has to wonder, though, if it all might be too little too late for some.
