Dear All,

The ccNSO Finance Working Group (FIN2 WG) has now launched the ccTLD Financial Contributions Survey, and we invite all ccTLDs to take part.

The survey is now open and will remain accessible until Tuesday, 13 May 2025 at 12:00 UTC. Your feedback is essential to help shape a financial contributions model that is fair, equitable, and voluntary—reflecting the realities and diversity of the global ccTLD community.  

• Click here to take the survey. 
• Each ccTLD is asked to submit only one (1) response, regardless of whether it is an ASCII or IDN ccTLD. This means one response per ccTLD, not per ccTLD manager.
• Before responding, we encourage you to review the survey preview to coordinate with colleagues and ensure complete, accurate submissions. 
• Deadline: 13 May 2025 at 12:00 UTC
• Estimated time to complete: ~15 minutes

All responses are confidential. Data will be anonymized and aggregated for analysis. Identifying details will be kept separate and not shared with third parties.

The feedback collected will directly inform the FIN2 WG’s recommendations, which will be presented to the ccNSO Council at ICANN83 in Prague. Join us for the related session during the ccNSO Members Meeting on Tuesday, 10 June, from 13:30 to 15:00 UTC, either in person or remotely.

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

• 2013 ccNSO Financial contribution Guideline
• 2013 Final Report ccNSO Finance Working Group including ccTLD Shared Cost model (2013)
• Letter ICANN CEO on financial contributions (November 2013)
• Letter Chair Finance WG to CEO ICANN on ccTLD Financial contributions (December 2013)
• ccTLD Contribution Reports  (for each fiscal year)
• ccTLD Billing Overview and FAQ
• Charter FIN2 WG 
• ICANN81 ccNSO Members Meeting, Welcome Session: guideline review kick-off
• ccTLD Financial contributions model (FY25, November 2024, ICANN81)
• ICANN82 ccNSO Members Meeting, Financial Contributions Session: community consultation
• 2013 ccTLD Shared Cost model, with updated figures (April 2025) 

Joke Braeken

joke.braeken@icann.org