New .ngo and .ong domain names to launch on 17 March
Howard Lake | 27 January 2015 | News
The new .ngo and .ong domain names for charities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) will be launched on 17 March 2015, following a three year process. These new suffixes are designed to offer an alternative to the .org suffix which designates a not-for-profit organisation but which can be used by a surprisingly wide variety of organisations.
The distribution of these new domain names is being handled by Public Interest Registry, who have also built an online community for NGOs around this function, called OnGood.
As with other domain suffixes, registration takes place in three phases, designed to protect organisations with trademark-protected brand names.
1. Sunrise period
From 17 March to 20 April 2015 organisations, individuals and companies which have registered their trademark(s) in the Trademark Clearinghouse will be able to register the domain name that matches this trademark(s), so that others can’t try to gazump them.
2. Limited registration period
From 21 April to 5 May, NGOs which have already submitted an Expression of Interest will be able to register their .ngo and .ong domain name. This takes place on a first-come first-served basis.
Advertisement
3. General availability period
From 6 May the .ngo and .ong suffixed domain names will be available for anyone to register for their charity, NGO, nonprofit, association or foundation.
Will your charity be registering a .ngo or .ong domain name? Let us know in the comment below.
• See also .NGO domain name: a go or no go for charities and NGOs?
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.