Coming in Q4 2014: .ngo and .ong, finally.

By Nancy Gofus

April 9, 2014, Washington, D.C.

What are .ngo and .ong?

.ngo stands for .Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), and .ong is the translated equivalent for regions of the world that speak romance languages (i.e. Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese). These are new domains coming soon exclusively for NGOs all over the world!

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Why are these domains launching?

Historically, many of the world’s NGOs and nonprofits have utilized the .org domain to carry out their missions and achieve their goals. While .org has and continues to be a trusted online space, it’s open for anyone to register; contrary to the popular misconception that .org is closed, you do not have to be a nonprofit to operate your own .org domain name. Beginning this year the Internet is undergoing dramatic change with the introduction of hundreds of new domains. As the longstanding operator of .org, and after extensive outreach and consultation with the NGO community, our organisation undertook the work to create a new online space exclusively for NGOs and nonprofits – one that would help them to: - distinguish themselves as genuine NGOs in an increasingly fragmented Internet, - establish trust and credibility with a global audience, and - help donors find causes and campaigns that they want to support.

How much will .ngo and .ong cost?

As a domain registry, we ourselves do not set retail pricing – that will be determined by the registrars who ultimately offer the service – but we anticipate that retail prices could be around $45-$50 US dollars. This cost covers the registration of both .ngo and .ong (to be sold together as a packaged bundle) and your organisation’s access into the NGO Portal.

What is the NGO Portal?

Once your NGO has registered it’s .ngo or .ong domains, a description of the organisation will be included in an global online directory. In addition you will have the opportunity to create your own profile page with links to your website and social media and the ability to collect donations. Overall the NGO Portal will serve as the home for the directory and a central gathering place for other NGOs, donors, potential business partners, and volunteers. You can learn more about the portal at www.globalngo.org!

When?

.ngo and .ong domains, as well as the NGO Portal, will launch in Q4 2014.

What can you do in the meantime?

Head over to www.globalngo.org and submit your Expression of Interest (EOI) for the .ngo or .ong domain name(s) that you are interested in registering. This is not a pre-registration; however, it does sign you up for Public Interest Registry’s NGO Newsletter so that you will receive key updates about the launch of .ngo or .ong and important information to help your organisation get the domain names that it wants before they are taken! You can also take a sneak peek at what the NGO Portal will look like at www.globalngo.org. Provide our team with your feedback – what you like and don’t like, what you’d like to see from the user experience. If you have any questions, you can contact Public Interest Registry at [email protected], or via our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Editor's Note: Having a website is an important aspect of foundation transparency identified in our recent guide Opening Up: Demystifying Funder Transparency and noted on our sister website Glasspockets. We encourage all foundations large and small to take this important step towards having a website at an NGO-specific domain.

Nancy Gofus is the Chief Operating Officer of the Public Interest Registry. A long-time veteran of the telecommunications industry, Ms. Gofus oversees the marketing, sales, product and strategy functions. In her role as chief operating office, she aims to expand Public Interest Registry‘s global presence as well as develop and execute marketing strategies that further grow the .org domain in existing and new markets. Currently, Ms. Gofus serves as board chair of the national board for Volunteers of America – a national non-profit dedicated to helping those in need live healthy, safe and productive lives. Previously, Ms. Gofus’ served as senior vice president of global product management for Verizon Communications in 2009 and chief marketing officer at Verizon Business from 2006 to 2008.