The Ohio SETI program is the longest-running one on Earth, having started in the early 1970s and run continuously ever since. Phoenix started in the last few years, and does not run continuously. The Ohio search strategy is an all-sky survey, with immediate tracking followup of any unusual detections. Phoenix uses a targeted strategy to look at a list of selected nearby stars. Phoenix uses larger telescopes than the Ohio telescope, and has a more powerful spectrum analyzer.
Phoenix is funded by large private contributions and has paid staff.
The Ohio SETI program is run by volunteers. Herb Johnson There is more in common than the particulars that separate these programs. We believe that a message from an extraterrestrial civilization would most likely be nonthreatening in content. Most highly intelligent people are nonviolent. Think about the way this works on the Earth.