Published: 20.10.2026
The .charity zone is a generic extension built on the word charity, which describes help given to people and causes in need. Charities, community groups, foundations and volunteer teams can use a name in .charity to show their purpose in one glance. It suits appeals, event pages and project reports, as long as the site describes the work accurately. Use the availability form just below this text to see whether your name in .charity is still available.
Check if a .charity domain is available .charity Check
A short history
Charity has deep roots in many cultures, from the giving of alms in older religious traditions to the organised volunteer groups and foundations of more recent times. Over the years the word has come to cover a wide range of work, including care for the sick, support for children, help with housing and campaigns for the environment and education. The .charity extension is a generic ending and is not tied to any one country, so organisations in many places can use it to say what they are for.
Who runs it
The zone is run by a registry operator that publishes the registration policy and keeps the database of names. Accredited registrars sell names to customers and send the orders to the registry. Because the name points to a public-benefit purpose, the operator's conditions on acceptable use matter, and they are worth reading before you publish donation pages or appeals.
Rules in practice
- Open registration: the zone is generic, so most organisations can apply, subject to the operator's conditions.
- Legal status: a domain name does not make an organisation a registered charity. Status depends on the law where the organisation works.
- Holder details: the registrant should be the legal body that runs the project, under the name shown in its governing documents.
- Characters: names use letters, digits and hyphens, and each label can run to 63 characters.
Who uses .charity
- Registered charities and foundations that publish annual reports and stories about their impact.
- Volunteer groups, food banks and self-help projects that coordinate shifts, collections and donations.
- Sponsored runs, fundraising dinners and community campaigns that need a page of their own.
- School parent groups and sports clubs that raise money for a cause and want a separate address for it.
Strengths
- The word explains the purpose of the site before a visitor reads a single line of text.
- It is short and easy to say on the radio, on a poster or at a school gate.
- It keeps a campaign address separate from the main site of a company, club or council.
Things to keep in mind
- Donors look for transparency, so the site should say who runs the organisation and how money is used.
- Fundraising, data protection and tax rules differ between countries, so check the local requirements before you launch an appeal.
- Many charity names are alike, so a place name or a specific cause can make your address easier to find.
- Visitors may still type .org or .com first, so consider whether you want more than one address.
Tips before you register
- Check the name in .org and .com and on the social channels your supporters already use.
- Register the exact legal name of the organisation, as it appears in its founding papers.
- Publish a privacy notice and explain plainly how donations and personal data are handled.
- Add mail authentication records before you send appeals or receipts from the domain.
- Give at least two board members access to the registrar account, so renewals are never missed.
Frequently asked questions
Does a .charity name make an organisation a registered charity? No. A domain name confers no legal status. Check the requirements in your country before you describe your organisation as a charity.
Can a small volunteer group use .charity? Yes, if the group is a genuine organisation and the content describes its activity accurately. Read the current terms of the zone at the time of the order.
Will a .charity address raise donations on its own? It may help people recognise the cause, but clear reporting, honest stories and simple ways to give do much more than the ending alone.
