Last week the Chronicle of Philanthropy pointed out that beginning March 17^th charities around the world are eligible to register for website addresses with the additional domains of .ngo and .ong.

Agitator reader Greg Worley wrote asking us to weigh in with an Agitator opinion of whether or not adding these domains is worth it to U.S. organizations doing business internationally?

First, some background on the reasons behind this development.

Seems like the Public Interest Registry (the folks register and track those thousands upon thousands of groups with an .org domain) have been conducting on-the-ground surveys and discussions with nonprofits in more than 30 countries. Their goal: to learn what needs organizations have — particularly small organizations in the developing world — where their online activities are concerned.

I reached out to Dave Stewart, vice president of sales and marketing at the Public Registry and was rewarded with a cornucopia of fascinating information.

• Two-thirds — yes, nearly 70% — of the world’s nonprofits do NOT have any web presence today.

• Consequently few of these groups have any way of making their presence and their work known to the rest of the world.

I remember that during a visit to Tanzania I was moved to make a contribution to local schools for something as basic as pencils and paper. When I got home, I drew a blank in finding any group to which I could make an online donation.

So … the Public Registry folks are doing the following:

• Setting up an organization called OnGood that provides a portal where all sorts of nonprofits can register, describe their activities, showcase campaigns, link to their website (if they have one), connect with their social media channels and collect donations.

• OnGood’s Directory is written in English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish.

• The portal accepts donations in 80 currencies through 20 different payment methods.

To say this is an ambitious undertaking is a huge understatement. What a wonderful addition to linking our increasingly linked world for those whose need is greatest.

So when does all this happen? According to Dave Stewart March 17^th marked the start of a 30 day ‘Sunrise Period’, a window in which brand owners that have registered their trademarks in the Trademark Clearing House have the opportunity to register the domain name that matches their trademark(s) before the domains .ngo and .ong become generally available in May.

ALERT: If you have ‘competitors’ in other parts of the world who are using the same name as your organization, it’s time to get moving if your want those .ngo and .ong extensions behind your name.

How’s it going so far? Dave reports that the Public Interest Registry has so far received “tens of thousands of Expressions of Interest” from organizations interested in registering for OnGood. The .ngo and .ong domains come as part of the OnGood portal package, which will cost you between $44 and $50 a year.

Now back to Greg’s question: Is it worth it for U.S. (or any Canadian or U.K. or European) nonprofits doing business internationally to add these domains.

Absolutely. For $50 a year you get to protect your brand and widen your horizon.

What have you decided to do?

Roger

P.S. The folks at OnGood and The Public Registry are undertaking an enormous and globally important task. They get an Agitator raise.