LOS ANGELES - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) organization issued a request for proposal (RFP) seeking a qualified provider to conduct financial and operational evaluations as part of the application evaluation process for the New gTLD Program: 2026 Round, according to the official website of ICANN. 

The Financial and Operational Evaluation panel assesses if an applicant has the financial capacity to fund the registry long-term, thereby mitigating risks to the stability of the Domain Name System and mitigating financial risks such as revenue shortfalls or cost overruns, including for those managing multiple TLDs.

The Financial and Operational Evaluation occurs during the applicant evaluation phase of the New gTLD Program, expected to begin in Q3 2027. The Financial and Operational Evaluation is performed at the applying-entity level. If the applicant applies for multiple strings, the results of the Financial Evaluation performed at the applying-entity level will apply to each of its strings.

Prospective providers are invited to submit proposals for ICANN to evaluate capabilities and expertise. This RFP is public and any potential provider may respond.

For a complete overview of this RFP, including the timeline, please consult this webpage.

Indications of interest should be emailed to 2026-round-financial-op-evaluation-rfp@icann.org and provide the following information:

• Name of the organization
• Name of the contact
• Email address of the contact

Official responses to the RFP should be electronically submitted using ICANN's sourcing tool by 23:59 UTC on June 12, 2026. Access to this tool may be requested via the same email address.