Creative domain name needed!
August 23, 2010 7:06 PM   Subscribe

I need a domain name idea for an online donation service. The shorter the better!

I want it to be super short but descriptive of donations/gifts/charity, etc.

For example:

donate-it.com
donate.it
gift.it
dona.te

All of these aren't available. Any ideas, hivemind?
posted by jeffrygardner to Computers & Internet (13 answers total)
 
I don't really think that you're likely to find anything that's descriptive, short, AND available.
posted by Slinga at 7:17 PM on August 23, 2010


Best answer: I don't know anything about registering Namibian domains, but according to WHOIS, "do.na" is available, and your site could be http://do.na/te
posted by jozxyqk at 7:33 PM on August 23, 2010


Best answer: midonate.com is available
yodonate.com is available
I got those two from http://www.namestation.com/ and there's lots more possibilities.
posted by msbutah at 7:36 PM on August 23, 2010


Best answer: You might have to settle for something that's less descriptive than evocative. Here's the best one I could find that was still available:

sharefully.com
posted by lore at 7:36 PM on August 23, 2010 [1 favorite]


Best answer: gi.ve (venezuela domain)
sha.re (Reunion domain)
charitab.ly (Libya)
givi.ng (Nigeria); also shari.ng, donati.ng, etc.

Unsure if these are available, I'm just shooting from the hip here based on domain extensions.
posted by holterbarbour at 7:45 PM on August 23, 2010


Best answer: It's not really short but givegivegivegive.com is easy to remember (four give)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:15 PM on August 23, 2010


Best answer: heartandahalf.com
posted by Alt F4 at 8:50 PM on August 23, 2010


Best answer: donate.to.it
udonate.it
udonate.to.it
ugive.it
ugive.to.it
posted by Roni Deutchbag at 9:38 PM on August 23, 2010


Best answer: If you want to get creative with your name space, try domai.nr.
posted by stop sign at 9:41 PM on August 23, 2010


Best answer: http://www.altruism.org/ seems to be available - it comes up with generic search engine stuff, and looks as though they would sell it...
posted by Hot buttered sockpuppets at 10:44 PM on August 23, 2010


Best answer: Curious, what are you building? Because a decade ago, I was working on a donation conduit project myself. I had scripted the import of IRS data for my database of charities, and had built a basic search engine against that data. I was going to call it "altruistic.net" after going through the exact domain name search you are going through now and finding not too many options. And then, when describing the project to a friend (at my 30th birthday party, fercryinoutloud), I found out about JustGive.org, who were already operational with the same concept. I dropped my project; they're still around, and they're doing everything better than I would have done it, I must admit.

Anyway, depending on your project, you could play around with the .us TLD:
TheyNeed.Us or GiftFrom.Us
Other interesting TLD's: Paraguay (.py as in philanthro...) and San Marino (.sm as in altrui...).
posted by richyoung at 11:19 PM on August 23, 2010


Best answer: Strongly recommend the aforementioned domai.nr. Type in something you're shooting for and it'll give you every possible iteration.

For example:

give.it
charit.ly
gift.to
contribute.to
altrui.sm
altrui.st
ugave.me

are all available and found using domai.nr.
posted by nosugrefneb at 11:38 PM on August 23, 2010


I rarely recommend domain hacks for anything that you really hope to grow. It can be cute and it certainly can keep things short - however it can be hard to remember where the "dot" goes for lay people.

Further risk includes fluctuating registrant requirements for various ccTLDs. Recently China's .cn underwent a major shift in registrant requirements and many domains which had been registered were canceled. Keep that in mind if you go down that road.

Finally, the cost of some of the less popular ccTLD can be prohibitive.

I'd suggest using a spinner (name.com and domainsbot both have pretty good tools for this) or stack ranking all of the domains you have thought of that aren't actively being used. Once you have the top ten write to the registrants to see if they'd be willing to sell and at what price. The email should state that you've a variety of names that you're considering and the person who responds with the most reasonable price you'll attempt to make a deal with.

You might also want to review what's on tap at SnapNames.com or NameJet.com. If you find something you like consider backordering it. Keep in mind that if more than one person back orders a domain it will go to auction.

If you have any specific questions about these suggestions feel free to MeMail me.
posted by FlamingBore at 1:09 AM on August 24, 2010 [1 favorite]


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