Upcoming Survey on ccTLD Financial Contributions – Launching 29 April

Date
24 April 2025

The second ccNSO Finance Working Group (FIN2 WG) is preparing to launch a survey to gather input from the ccTLD community. The results will help inform the group's ongoing work in identifying financial contribution models that are fair and equitable, and encourage ccTLDs to contribute to ICANN at a level deemed reasonable, while preserving the principle of voluntary financial contributions.

The survey will open on Tuesday, 29 April 2025, and close on Tuesday, 13 May 2025 at 12:00 UTC. Your participation is crucial to ensure the proposed models reflect the diverse needs and realities of the ccTLD community.

In our next communication, we will share:

  • Detailed instructions
  • An offline copy of the survey questions
  • The survey link
  • A reminder of the submission deadline

Before submitting your responses, we encourage you to review:

You may also find the background section below helpful. The estimated survey completion time is approximately 15 minutes.

The FIN2 WG aims to present its final, community-supported recommendations to the ccNSO Council by ICANN83 in Prague. To learn more, we invite you to attend the ICANN83 ccNSO Members Meeting, either in person or remotely. The session on ccTLD financial contributions is scheduled for Tuesday, 10 June, from 13:30 to 15:00 UTC.

BACKGROUND

In line with the ccNSO Financial Contributions Guideline, adopted in November 2013, the guideline is subject to review every five years. The first review took place in November 2018 and resulted in improvements to the invoicing process. The second review began at ICANN81.

The objective of the second Finance Working Group (FIN2 WG) is to review, explore, and propose a financial contribution model that is fair, equitable, and encourages ccTLDs to contribute at a level considered reasonable—while upholding the principle of voluntary contributions.

The group's main focus areas include:

  • Analyzing and reviewing the ccTLD Shared Cost model.
  • Evaluating and assessing the existing banded contribution system.
  • Identifying and proposing solutions to reduce the gap between total contributions and a reasonable contribution level

The ccTLD Shared Cost model—also referred to as the value exchange model—was originally developed in 2013 through a collaborative effort between the ccNSO and ICANN org. The ccNSO recognizes that ICANN incurs costs that directly and specifically benefit the ccTLD community and recommends that ICANN be reasonably compensated for these services. The ccTLD Shared Cost model serves as a framework for allocating expenditures. Recently, ICANN org and the FIN2 WG revisited the calculation methodology used in the 2013 model. Based on their review, the figures have been updated using the most recent data from ICANN's FY26 Budget. Review the original 2013 model here. View the 2025 version with updated figures here.

LINKS