2025 marks a historic milestone: .org turns 40.
From its first registration in 1985 to becoming a global symbol of trust and purpose, .org has empowered millions of nonprofits, social enterprises, and changemakers to drive impact online.
To celebrate this anniversary, Openprovider sat down with Jon Nevett, President and CEO of Public Interest Registry (PIR) – the nonprofit steward of .org – to discuss its evolution, the challenges and opportunities facing mission-driven organizations today, and why .org continues to be a trusted digital home for those working to make the world a better place.
Openprovider: Firstly, this is a historic year for .org as it turns 40! It’s the perfect time to reflect on the evolution of .org as a brand. How do you see .org today, and what does it represent in the modern digital landscape?
Jon Nevett: Celebrating 40 years of .org is a monumental milestone. When the first .org was registered in 1985, little did anyone know that .org would grow into a symbol for change and represent a vast and vibrant global community of mission-driven individuals and organizations. These dedicated changemakers are working tirelessly to make the world a better place, driven by a shared commitment to service and impact.
At Public Interest Registry (PIR), we are deeply honored to serve as the stewards of this extraordinary legacy. Our role is to ensure that the .org domain remains a trusted and credible platform for those who are dedicated to improving communities worldwide. Today, with well over 11 million .org domains under management, this powerful community of changemakers is actively empowering people across countless sectors. They are building homes, ensuring that communities are fed, providing vital medical care to heal the sick, and enabling the next generation to build a brighter, more hopeful future.
The impact of the .org Community touches every corner of the globe. At PIR, our commitment to supporting and uplifting this community is unwavering. We strive to ensure that the .org domain continues to be a beacon for good, fostering innovation, collaboration, and positive change for the next 40 years, and well beyond!
OP: Our readers are familiar with .org domains, but may not know much about the organization behind them. Can you briefly explain how Public Interest Registry supports mission-driven organizations beyond domain registration?
JN: More than two decades ago, The Internet Society (ISOC) founded Public Interest Registry as a nonprofit to manage, enhance, and expand the .org domain. Since then PIR has been a champion for a free and open Internet with a clear mission to provide mission-driven organizations with a trusted digital identity and serve as a valued resource to those working to improve our world.
Our work is designed to remove barriers that prevent these organizations from being successful as they leverage the Internet to achieve their goals – whether it’s making the Internet safer and more secure, celebrating and rewarding their impact on their communities, providing tools and resources to maximize online effectiveness, or working to implement policies to make the Internet open and accessible to everyone.
Along with .org, we are also stewards of the .org Family of Domains which includes .charity, .foundation, .gives, .giving, .ngo, and .ong. We devote considerable thought and resources to ensure that our top-level domains (TLDs) live up to the standards that we have set for ourselves and that our end-users deserve.
OP: Creating meaningful change is never easy. Mission-driven organizations often face persistent challenges – especially around funding, visibility, and cybersecurity. What are the key issues PIR is currently focused on addressing, and how does it support organizations in overcoming these obstacles?
The challenges mission-driven organizations face are often unique, and today we see these roadblocks continuing to grow. At PIR, this is what drives us to find programs and solutions that support and celebrate this community. One of the most recognizable ways we’ve done so for the past seven years is through our .ORG Impact Awards. These awards, which are free for anyone with a .org to enter, have awarded $685,000 to 226 outstanding .ORGs from over 87 countries. We are excited to add to this community when we announce the 2025 winners this October.
Another key area that has always been at the forefront of our mission are our anti-abuse efforts. In today’s digital world, trust must be earned and protected. At PIR, we’re proud to be a recognized leader in anti-abuse efforts, working tirelessly to ensure that the .org domain remains a safe, secure, and exemplary corner of the Internet.
We are also providing free resources for .ORGs to manage their online presence, keep their websites secure, and more through our .ORG Learning Center. By collaborating with partners and leaders across the nonprofit community, if a .org is just getting started or looking for guidance on a topic like cybersecurity, they can easily find tools and tips on the .ORG Learning Center to be successful online.
OP: In 2024, PIR reached a major milestone: 11 million .org domains under management. What do you see as the key factors driving this continued growth and trust in the .org brand?
JN: Hitting 11 million domains under management was a big milestone for us, and I’m proud to say that we have only continued to see positive growth this year. It’s something we are very proud of and something we believe is due largely to our ongoing focus on quality, responsible growth.
For us, quality growth is built on two key factors, high renewal rates and low abuse rates. .ORG renewal rates continue to be above 80% and our abuse rates are the lowest in the industry.
As we’ve grown, we’ve spearheaded many initiatives to fight Internet abuse and earn the trust of organizations worldwide. Our Quality Performance Index (QPI) program, which launched more than five years ago, incentivizes registrars to strive for low abuse rates while continuing to increase registrations. The program builds credibility for registrars and promotes accountability across the industry.
These programs are essential to maintaining a space where those that are making a difference in the world can feel safe and secure online.
OP: Security is another major area of focus for PIR. Can you share how your team – along with your partners – is working to create a safer, more resilient internet for .org users?
JN: PIR fully embraces the trust that has been placed in us to operate .org and the other TLDs under our care in the public interest. We are fully committed to combating online abuse including DNS Abuse and limited categories of content abuse.
One way we have done this is by launching the NetBeacon Institute in 2021. The Institute provides free tools and services to help the Internet community identify and report DNS Abuse, establish best practices, fund DNS research, and share data.
Whether it’s supporting the NetBeacon Institute to fight DNS Abuse across the whole Internet community or updating our anti-abuse principles that guide our work, doing the right thing is always at the top of mind. That’s also why we’ve taken steps to combat online child abuse and partner with organizations like the Internet Watch Foundation to address and expand access to their tools that disrupt sites dedicated to the commercial distribution and exploitation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) online.
OP: The .org community is made up of millions of nonprofits, social enterprises, and individuals using the Internet to drive change. You could spend hours talking about the amazing work these entities and people are doing, but is there a particular .org that has personally inspired you or touched your life in a meaningful way?
JN: It’s hard to call out just one .org that has touched me, it seems like every day I’m learning about a new .org doing incredible work to impact their community. However, one issue that has been near and dear to my heart is the early detection of cancer.
After my own experience with cancer, and seeing it affect so many friends and family, I am honored to serve on the board of the Prevent Cancer Foundation, an organization dedicated to cancer prevention and early detection through research, education, outreach, and advocacy. It’s inspiring to see how that organization and many others in the .org Community come together to fight cancer. I am fortunate to be a part of their amazing work to create a world where cancer is preventable, detectable, and beatable for all.
OP: Finally, as .org celebrates its 40th anniversary, what makes you optimistic about the future? Why do you believe .org will continue to be a trusted home for mission-driven organizations around the world?
JN: There’s a lot to be excited about when we think about the future of .org. As I mentioned, we are continuing to see 2025 be a year of growth for .org and we must continue to collaborate with our registrar partners on ways we can expand the community.
When we think about the future, keeping our nonprofit mission at the forefront of our work is critical. A large element of this is continuing to support ISOC in its efforts to defend and promote Internet policies, standards, and protocols that keep the Internet open, globally connected, and secure. Everyone deserves access to a reliable Internet and together we can continue to bridge the digital divide.
At the same time, we are building upon many of the programs and initiatives that I touched on above. Directly engaging with the community through initiatives like the .ORG Impact Awards and our ORG In Action program is critical. We need to continue to tell the stories of those that make the .org domain what it is. From nonprofits installing solar panels in Madagascar, delivering groceries to families in need, and even equipping young children with bionic limbs, these are the faces of .org and we must continue to uplift their work.
Lastly, one of the biggest contributing factors to our success is the team we have at PIR that works day in and day out to make .org the trusted, credible online home that millions around the world rely on. Without our team, this would not be possible. I truly believe that when you honor your people, success will follow. I’m grateful that our team is equally as passionate about our mission and about serving this community as I am.
Together, we look forward to continuing to build on this foundation of trust and service for many years to come.
Openprovider is extremely grateful to PIR CEO Jon Nevett for taking the time to share his insights on the 40-year journey of .org.
We are proud to stand alongside PIR in supporting the incredible global community that calls .org home. As .org celebrates 40 years of impact, we remain committed to helping mission-driven organizations secure their digital identities, build trust, and amplify their voices online.
Through our Membership program, Openprovider Members can register and renew all their .org domains at cost price – ensuring that more resources can go directly toward their mission.
Together with PIR, we look forward to empowering even more changemakers to achieve their goals and continue shaping a brighter future through the trusted .org domain.
If you’re looking to start registering .org domains, check out our platform for yourself here by signing up for free – no credit card required!
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