ICANN Expects 5% Drop in Funding Due to Coronavirus

ICANN revenue could drop 5% over FY 2021-2025 due to COVID-19, officials said at a Tuesday webinar. The $11.1 million decrease is expected to come from fewer domain name registrations and fees from contracted parties such as registries and registrars, said Director-Financial Planning and Analysis Shani Quidwai. The webinar was to allow public feedback on a proposed five-year strategic, operating and financial plan, and FY 2021 (ending June 30) operating plan and budget. The drafts published in December are now slightly obsolete and have been tweaked before expected board approval next month, said Chief Financial Officer Xavier Calvez. The nonprofit expects the pandemic to affect all its planned activities and finances for the rest of this year and all the next fiscal year, which is why it developed a new set of financial projections, he said. Changes to the revised documents include the lower revenue projection and reduced personnel costs due to less hiring and less travel and meeting cost because of travel restrictions. Plans for a new round of generic top-level domain names remain unchanged, Quidwai said. The organization is in good shape to weather the crisis because of a stable reserve fund and control over its finances, said CEO Goran Marby, but there's "a lot of uncertainty going forward" that will affect ICANN as an institution.