Associations looking to expand the range of websites they use for their charitable foundations and other donation-focused functions now have a new option. On January 20, the Public Interest Registry (PIR) announced the public availability of the .giving top-level domain. 

PIR administers a variety of domains relating to nonprofits, including, .org, .ngo, .charity, and .foundation. The new domain is meant to help those organizations clarify their messaging around fundraising, said PIR CEO Jon Nevett. “We want to help make it easier for mission-driven organizations and philanthropic-minded people to raise or donate money for causes they care about,” he said. “And this is an opportunity to create a dedicated online space for fundraising and for giving.”

You can capture the attention of the donor with one click.

Jon Nevett, Public Interest Registry

The use of such a domain, Nevett said, can remove a step from visitors to a cause’s website to making a donation. “You can capture the attention of the donor with one click, as opposed to having them navigate through the entire site, try to find the donation page, and then click there and not get distracted.”

PIR acquired access to the .giving domain in late 2021 as part of the organization’s broader strategic plan to expand the range of domains available to organizations and individuals seeking charitable donations. The time between then and the public launch was focused on managing approvals to administer the domain, Nevett said.

Before the public launch, PIR also had to adhere to rules from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which administers all top-level domains and requires a two-month “sunrise period” where trademark holders are informed of the existence of the new domain. That allows those trademark holders to claim URLs before cybersquatters do.

PIR has been active in the past year expanding its range of nonprofit-focused domains, which already includes a similar domain, .gives. Nevett said there are no strict rules governing which domain an organization or individual can use. “People can be creative for both,” he said. “We’re a nonprofit, and we want to provide mission-driven individuals and entities the ability to use .gives or .giving—there are a lot of use cases for both.”

Though there’s no vetting process for those applying for websites with the new domain, Nevett said its “very pronounced and active anti-abuse program” should help keep the websites focused on their intended goals and audiences. (In 2021, PIR created a DNS Abuse Institute to address the issue across all domain groups.)

Nevett said it’s too early to share details about the the use of the new domain thus far. (WHOIS searches suggest that some prominent URLs relating to nonprofits, like cancer.giving and unitedway.giving, have been claimed.) “The response is where we expected it,” he said. “I’m very pleased with the reaction to the new opportunity.”

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