PIR released the results of the bi-annual domain name report, “The Dashboard,” which outlines the growth of .ORG in the second half of 2012. Overall, we had a remarkable year. Most notably, we hit a major milestone in June with the registration of the 10 millionth .ORG domain!

Our team compiles this report every six months and each time I’m impressed by the results. It’s encouraging to see that year after year individuals and organizations continue to turn to .ORG to promote their cause and educate their audiences.

Some of the key findings of “The Dashboard” include the following:

• New .ORG registrations increased by 11.9 percent in the second half of 2012.
• The number of .ORG domains under management (DUM) grew by 4.3 percent in 2012.
• .ORG experienced a net gain of 416,301 registrations in 2012.
• .ORG DUM have more than doubled during the past seven years, increasing from 3.9 million in 2005 to more than 10.1 million in 2012.

We are particularly proud of our international growth in the past two years. From 2010 to 2012, new .ORG domain names created abroad increased in the following regions:

• Asia, Australia and the Pacific region grew by 47 percent.
• Africa grew by 23 percent.
• Latin America grew by 25 percent.

This increased demand for .ORG in international markets only further solidifies our commitment to non-profits and non-governmental organizations (NGO) worldwide. To that end, our applications with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to be the operator of .NGO and .ONG domains are currently under evaluation, and ICANN expects to delegate new top-level domains later this year. These proposed domain extensions would be specifically aimed at meeting the needs of the global NGO community, providing them with a secure and trusted venue that enables them to increase engagement, awareness and funding opportunities. For more than a decade, Public Interest Registry has served non-profit organizations and we look forward to growing our mission and global capabilities in 2013.

To see the full results of The Dashboard, download a PDF of report here.