.ngo Domain
Verified Non-Governmental Organisation Domain
Register your .ngo domain from just £19.99/yr. Free DNS management, email forwarding, and 10GB mailbox included with every domain.
This domain has registration restrictions
The .ngo domain is restricted to non-governmental and non-profit organisations. The registry (Public Interest Registry) validates eligibility, and registrations that fail validation are refused. Read the full eligibility rules.
What is a .ngo domain?
The .ngo domain is a verified namespace for non-governmental organisations. Registrants must prove their NGO status, which gives the extension a level of trust that open TLDs can't offer. International development agencies, humanitarian organisations, and advocacy groups use .ngo to signal legitimacy to donors, partners, and beneficiaries.
Who should register .ngo?
International development agencies, humanitarian organisations, advocacy groups, and verified NGOs.
Why choose .ngo?
- Verified NGO status required
- Built-in donor trust
- Recognised by the international community
- Complements .ong for multilingual reach
Who runs .ngo, and since when
Registry data from the .ngo delegation record held by IANA, which maintains the internet's root zone. Eligibility comes from the registry's own policy, and the prices are ours.
- Extension type
- Generic (gTLD)
- Registry operator
- Public Interest Registry
- The organisation that runs the extension
- In the root zone since
- 2014
- Delegated 10 July 2014
- Who can register
- Verified NGOs only; status must be evidenced or the domain is deleted
- Checked against the registry's own policy
- Our price
- £19.99 a year
- Ex VAT. Renews at the same price
How .ngo verification and name rules actually work
It is the cheapest extension in this group and by some distance the hardest to hold. Public Interest Registry, the same organisation behind .org, operates .ngo under a community agreement with ICANN, and that agreement sets out rules a normal registration never touches.
Registrants have to demonstrate affiliation with a non-governmental organisation membership body or produce evidence of NGO status. Verification runs in two steps: the domain is created once the first certification is confirmed, and if the second step is never completed the domain is deleted and released back into the available pool. Nobody refunds your effort at that point.
The name rules are the part most people miss. A .ngo name has to be the organisation's name or a portion of it, an acronym for it, a name that describes it, or a name related to its mission or activities. You cannot register a generic term you happen to fancy. Use is restricted too: sites must promote the organisation's existing mission and activities rather than serve commercial marketing, and the registry runs random compliance audits, locking and then terminating domains that do not come back into line.
Who is allowed to register .ngo?
Only organisations that can demonstrate NGO status may hold a .ngo, and the name itself has to relate to that organisation or its mission.
- Proving NGO status
- Registrants must demonstrate affiliation through an NGO membership organisation or provide evidence of NGO status. The registry works with membership bodies and its NGO Community Advisory Council to validate eligibility, and the list of accepted membership organisations is intended to grow over time.
- A two-step check
- Verification happens in two stages. Once the initial certification is confirmed, the domain is created and you have it. If the additional information required at the second stage is never supplied, the domain is deleted and released back into the pool of available names.
- Which names you may pick
- The name has to be the whole or part of the organisation's name, an acronym for it, a name that recognises or describes it, or a name related to its mission or activities. Generic terms are separately reserved and released only through a process meant to benefit the wider NGO community.
- How the site may be used
- The domain must be put to bona fide NGO use. Websites are expected to promote the organisation's existing mission and activities rather than exist solely for commercial or for-profit marketing, and use inconsistent with an NGO mission is not permitted.
- If you fall out of compliance
- The registry audits a sample of registrations for membership claims, name policy and use. A registrant found out of compliance is notified that the domain will be placed on registry lock, and if the issue is not put right the domain is terminated. Complaints that a name is not used primarily for NGO purposes go through a restrictions dispute resolution policy.
Rules taken from the .ngo registry agreement, Specification 12. Registry policy can change, so check before you buy if the answer matters to you.
Not sure whether you qualify? Ask us before you order and we will check the registry rules with you. We would rather answer the question than take an order the registry will refuse.
Is .ngo the right choice for you?
We would rather sell you the right extension once than the wrong one twice.
.ngo works well if
- You are an established non-governmental organisation working internationally, and being visibly separate from commercial .org registrants is worth the verification.
- Your acronym or working name is long gone on .org and .org.uk, but available here because the pool is small and gated.
- Donors and institutional partners judge you partly on how carefully you present yourself, and a verified namespace is one more piece of that.
Look elsewhere if
- You are a small UK charity taking donations from British supporters. They know .org.uk, and .org.uk costs a fraction of this with no verification to clear.
- Any part of the site is a commercial venture. Use restrictions require bona fide NGO purposes, and a trading arm sits awkwardly against that.
- You want the domain today. A two-step verification stands between you and a stable registration, and failing the second step deletes it.
A UK charity with UK donors will do better on the extension they already recognise. See .org.uk pricing.
.ngo vs .org: which should you register?
Both come from Public Interest Registry, which makes the difference between them unusually clean. A .org is open to anybody: charities use it, but so do trade bodies, software projects and plenty of ordinary companies, so it says nothing verifiable about the registrant. A .ngo is gated, and the gate is the entire product.
Choose the .org when reach and recognition matter most, when your supporters would not think twice about it, and when you would rather not have your address depend on staying inside a policy. Choose the .ngo when your audience is institutional, when the name you want is unavailable elsewhere, and when you can comfortably evidence NGO status now and in five years. Plenty of organisations hold both, running the .org as the address on the appeal letter.
.ngo domain questions, answered
What people ask us before registering a .ngo domain.
Can't find what you're looking for?
Ask us directlyUsually yes, if it can evidence NGO status or affiliation with a recognised membership organisation, because that is what the registry checks rather than any particular national register. The harder question is whether it should. British donors recognise .org.uk and .org, both cost far less, and neither has verification you can fail. The .ngo makes most sense for organisations whose work and funding are international, where the label carries meaning to partners outside the UK.
The domain is deleted and released back into the available pool. Verification runs in two steps, and the domain is created after the first certification is confirmed, which means you can be live and then lose it if the second stage is never satisfied. Treat the paperwork as part of the registration rather than something to get round to. If eligibility is at all uncertain, register a .org or .org.uk first so that the site is never resting on an open question.
No, and this catches people out more often than the eligibility rules. The name has to be your organisation's name or part of it, an acronym for it, a name that describes it, or a name tied to its mission or activities. A campaign phrase or a generic keyword you have no organisational claim to will not pass, and generic terms are reserved separately. Work out the name you can legitimately hold before you plan a launch around it.
Included with Your .ngo Domain
DNS Management
Full DNS zone editor to manage A, CNAME, MX, TXT, and all record types.
Email Forwarding
Set up professional email addresses and forward to any inbox.
Auto-Renewal
Never lose your domain with automatic renewal protection.
Free 10GB Mailbox
One 10GB mailbox (POP3/IMAP) included with every domain, on any TLD.
Other Business Domains Extensions
Register your .ngo domain today
Secure your .ngo domain from just £19.99/yr. Free DNS management, email forwarding, and 10GB mailbox included.
