Why it matters
When you register a .UK domain, you enter a contract with your registrar that includes Nominet’s terms (The UK Domain). Whoever is named as registrant holds that contract. The Charity Commission’s guidance for trustees (CC3, The essential trustee) says trustees should avoid exposing the charity’s assets, beneficiaries or reputation to undue risk. A website and email address that supporters, funders and beneficiaries rely on is exactly that kind of asset.
Who it should be
- A registered charity: Nominet’s registry has a specific registrant type for a UK registered charity, recorded with the charity number (Nominet registrar documentation). Ask your registrar to use it.
- A charitable company or CIO: register in the organisation’s exact legal name.
- A club, association or unincorporated group: Nominet’s registrant types include a category for UK entities that don’t fit the others, such as clubs and associations. Use the group’s name, and record in your minutes who manages the domain on the group’s behalf.
- Not an individual trustee, volunteer, staff member or web designer in their personal capacity.
Nominet asks for a full legal entity so it can validate registrant details against public data sources (The UK Domain).
Contact details and logins
- Use a role email address the organisation controls (for example [email protected], or a shared admin inbox), not one person’s private email.
- Make sure at least two trustees or officers can access the registrar account and the role inbox.
- Switch on two-factor authentication on the registrar account, and on the Nominet Online Services account for .UK domains. Nominet recommends authenticator apps (The UK Domain).
- Keep a short record: registrar, renewal date, who has access, and where the DNS (email and website settings) is managed.
How to check yours
- Look up the domain with Nominet’s lookup on nominet.uk to find the registrar and expiry date.
- The registrant name isn’t shown publicly by default (The UK Domain), so log in to your registrar account or Nominet Online Services, or ask your registrar, to confirm whose name it’s in.
How to fix it
- Small corrections (a spelling mistake, or a company name change with the same company number) can be made through your registrar or in Nominet Online Services, and need Nominet’s approval (The UK Domain).
- A change to a different person or organisation, for example from a former trustee to the charity, is a registrant transfer. An accredited registrar may do it for you, or it can be done in Nominet Online Services for £10 plus VAT. The new registrant has five days to accept (The UK Domain, checked 20 October 2026).
- If the current registrant has left and can’t be reached, or nobody can access the contact email, Nominet has a process to re-establish identity and update the email address, for £10 plus VAT (The UK Domain).
Questions people ask
Does it matter if our domain is in a volunteer’s name?
Yes. Legally it’s theirs, not the charity’s. If they leave, fall out with the group or can’t be contacted, renewing or moving the domain becomes difficult. Transfer it to the organisation while relationships are good.
Our web designer registered our domain. Is that a problem?
Only if they’re the registrant. They can manage it for you, but the charity should be the registrant and have its own access.
Is our domain proof that we’re a charity?
No. A .org.uk address doesn’t prove charitable status. Supporters can check a charity on the Charity Commission’s register.
- The UK Domain – Terms for registering a domain
- Charity Commission – The essential trustee (CC3)
- Nominet Registrar Resources – Field definitions and registrant types
- The UK Domain – How do I update contact details?
- The UK Domain – Is my personal info visible online?
- The UK Domain – How do I transfer my domain?
- The UK Domain – Lost access to email account
- The UK Domain – What is 2FA?
- Charity Commission – Register of charities
Related guides
Renewals and expiry
How .UK renewals work, the expiry timeline, and how to make sure your charity never loses its domain.
Fake renewal notices & scams
How to spot fake domain renewal invoices, misleading offers and spoof ‘Nominet’ emails, and what to do.
Moving or transferring a domain
Switching registrar versus changing the registrant: the two different ‘transfers’, and how each works for .UK domains.
Domain security checklist
A one-page checklist for trustees: access, 2FA, renewals, records and who to call, linked to Charity Commission and NCSC guidance.