The Applicant Support Program is an initiative developed in addition to the New gTLD Program and it seeks to serve the global public interest by ensuring worldwide accessibility to, and competition within, the new gTLD Program. It assists potential new gTLD applicants seeking both financial and non-financial support. There are three ways to participate in this program.

1. Access to pro bono services for startup gTLD registries: The Applicant Support Directory is an online work space providing access to community pro bono services. The directory was created to connect potential applicants who wish to establish a new public interest gTLD registry in their community with organizations who wish to offer either financial or non-financial assistance.

2. Apply for financial assistance: Qualified applicants may receive reduced evaluation fees. Refer to the Financial Assistance Handbook for guidelines and criteria on how to apply for reduced fees.

3. The Applicant Support Fund. The ICANN Board has set aside US$2,000,000 as seed funding to assist needy applicants.  

In this session you will learn how this program is progressing and what are the next steps, for example the recruitment of the Support Applicant Review Panel (SARP). The presentation will focus on the financial assistance and access to pro-bono services and will open a discussion about the donation opportunity, an important part of this program that is still under development.