Public Interest Registry is a non-profit organization created by the Internet Society (ISOC). We are based in Reston, Virginia.
We’ve managed the .ORG domain name for over a decade, which has given us plenty of experience running a trustworthy top-level domain registry. So when the new .NGO and .ONG domain names were created, we knew we could do a great job managing them as well — and maybe even use them to do something more. That’s why we created OnGood. Through the unique .NGO and .ONG domain names, and our community platform designed specifically for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and their supporters, OnGood gives NGOs the support, public attention, and credibility they and their causes deserve.
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The .ORG top-level domain is one of the original internet domains that dates back to 1985. This domain has always been available to anyone — non-profits, individuals or corporations — that want to promote causes that benefit their communities. In contrast, the .NGO and .ONG domain names are only available to verified NGOs. Any organization with the .NGO and .ONG domain names instantly distinguishes itself as a true and active NGO that is doing good in the world.
The .NGO and .ONG domain names are also unique because they come with membership to OnGood’s community. This community is a network of organizations and supporters that helps NGOs create visibility for their causes, showcase their efforts, collect donations, and connect with other organizations and supporters worldwide.
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NGO stands for non-governmental organization. An NGO is an organization dedicated to improving the human condition on a local, national, or global scale. They are not-for-profit and, like the name implies, not operated by a governmental institution. For more information about what makes an organisation eligible to use the .NGO and .ONG domains, please see our Eligibility Requirements.
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We are created by the Public Interest Registry. We created OnGood not only to operate the .NGO and .ONG domain extensions, but to also provide NGOs with a community of peers and supporters, as well as organizational services designed to help them shine a light on the good they do in our world.
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Meeting the needs of NGOs by helping them create visibility, credibility, and support is our top priority. We’ve spent a lot of time connecting and speaking with NGOs around the world through letters, events, meetings, and seminars, and have worked to make OnGood everything the NGO community needs it to be. But we never want to stop improving; you can always reach out and help us make OnGood better.
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The .NGO and .ONG domain names are only available to NGOs, so that organizations like yours can instantly distinguish themselves as honest-to-goodness NGOs working to do good in the world. To be a verified NGO, you can be located anywhere in the world, operating at any level, in any particular field of work. You will just need to certify your NGO meets the following criteria:
Your NGO acts in the interest of the public. Your field of work may be in education, the environment, human rights, health care, or potentially anything else. No matter the field, improving the quality of human life or preserving the planet is your mission.
Your NGO is a non-profit. You may raise funds to support your mission or work with commercial businesses, but you cannot keep any profits you earn during the course of that work.
Your NGO is not controlled by a government. You may work closely with governments. You may even receive some funding from them to support your mission. But you are not influenced or controlled by them — you have your own policies and your own agenda.
Your NGO is independent. You are nonpartisan and not a part of any political party or government.
Your NGO is active. You are a currently operating organization. You are up, running, and regularly pursuing your mission.
Your NGO is a structured organization. No matter your size, you have governance structures in place that are clear and logical. You have bylaws, standards, policies, and a code of conduct that suits your organization.
Your NGO follows the law. You are a law-abiding organization.
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The .NGO and .ONG domain names make it clear what kind of organization you are before a person has even visited your site. The terms NGO and ONG are recognized worldwide as organizations dedicated to good works and worthwhile missions. Your very domain makes you instantly recognizable as one such organization.
The internet can be a noisy place, and it can be difficult to know if organizations are really who they say they are online. Our .NGO and .ONG domain names are only available to verified NGOs, which means with an .NGO and .ONG site, your organization instantly distinguishes itself as a true and active organization working to do good in the world.
You don’t have to choose between .NGO and .ONG — the two domains come together as a set. When you register an .NGO domain, you automatically reserve the same domain for .ONG, and vice versa. With both extensions, your NGO will speak to both Romance and non-Romance language readers.
With .NGO and .ONG domain names come membership to our OnGood community and access to its many benefits. Connect with supporters and other OnGood NGO members. Raise your visibility through our OnGood directory and your own organization’s unique profile page.
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We’re committed to helping NGOs gain credible recognition, increase the visibility of their efforts, and raise funds. OnGood’s community helps its members achieve these goals in a variety of ways:
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You can keep several domain names and point them all to a single website. For example, your site can keep its .ORG domain and add .NGO and .ONG domains as alternative ways to reach your site. If anything, multiple domain names make it easier to find your organization online.
On the other hand, if your organization has several different messages that speak to separate audiences, you could use multiple domains as a way to create separate websites for each audience; each domain could focus on a single message or target a single audience.
You can decide what makes the most sense for your organization and which approach will create the most visibility.
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No, you can always opt out of the directory; building a profile page and being included in the OnGood Global Directory are not required. But we hope you will take advantage of these features — we’ve designed them to be fast and intuitive to work with, so you can easily share the good work your organization does with supporters and fellow NGOs — and then get back to doing that good work.
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Yes, your organization must register for the .NGO and .ONG domain names.
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The OnGood website is available in one language: English. If there is interest or a need to include additional languages, we are more than happy to look into adding them to expand OnGood’s audience.
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It only takes two steps to get your .NGO and .ONG domain names up and running and an OnGood community membership activated:
Register for a .NGO and .ONG domain with a registrar. Before you do, it’s a good idea to make sure your organization meets our seven NGO eligibility requirements. You’ll also want to confirm that the person applying for the domain is an authorized member of your NGO and can register a domain name on your NGO’s behalf.
Visit the OnGood site and create an account.
Once you’re registered a .NGO and .ONG domain and self-certified that your organization meet the seven eligibility requirements of .NGO and .ONG domain registration. We take the high standards of the NGO community seriously and regularly perform audits of domains to ensure that a registration is valid. We also count on community members to look out for their fellow organizations and make sure they’re living up to our community’s seven requirements. All domains are subject to audit.
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A letter of reference should come from an established NGO. The letter should include information that clearly identifies the referring organization: their name, location, the name and title of the letter writer, and the organization’s registration number (if they are registered with a government ministry, tax authority, or other NGO body).
In the letter, your fellow NGO needs to vouch that you meet all seven requirements of an OnGood-verified NGO.
If you are registering from a country that doesn’t have a certification process for NGOs, we’re happy to accept letters of reference from organisations who can demonstrate they themselves are a valid NGOs. Their letter of reference may be a little longer, since they are both proving their own status as an authentic NGO, and confirming that your organization is an eligible NGO.
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Our audit process should only take you 10-15 minutes to complete if you gather the information on this checklist before you begin:
The official name of your organization and any other names it uses
The name of the country where your organization is registered
Your organization’s registration or identification number (if applicable) and issuing body
Documentation that verifies your organization meets OnGood’s eligibility requirements (If you’re uploading documentation, acceptable file types include: JPG, BMP, PNG, GIF, DOC, DOCX or PDF)
Documents that can be used as verification include: a registration certificate, a certificate of good standing, evidence of membership in an NGO organization, etc. You may also submit a reference letter from another NGO organization as verification.
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Never. We do not even have access to donor information. Donations are collected directly by the NGO organizations themselves, or by our third-party partner. A donor has the option to share their information with an organization, but it’s not required.
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No, we take your privacy seriously and you can trust us with your personal information. We do not sell or share the contact information of any OnGood members or donors.
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You don’t have to choose between .NGO and .ONG — the two domains come together as a bundle. When you register an .NGO domain, you automatically reserve the same domain for .ONG, and vice versa. With both extensions, your NGO will speak to both Romance and non-Romance language readers across the globe. You can choose how to best use both of your domains to reach your audience.
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A domain name needs to be at least three characters long, but it can have up to 63 characters. The name can include letters, numbers, and hyphens. Be careful though, a hyphen cannot be the first, third, fourth, or last character in the name.
A domain name cannot have any of these characters in it: ~ @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) + = < > { } [ ] | \ / : ; ‘ , . ?.
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Unfortunately another organization might have registered your domain name. Your organization and the registrar may be able to use the ICANN Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy to resolve the issue. You can find out more about the policy here.
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