What do you need in order to be a real .org?

I was wondering what characteristics a venture needs to have in order to be a real .org?

Also, since I never ran a .org before, what are some of the implications/pitfalls that come with that kind of a domain?

Technically the .org domain is for organizations. It was originally intended for non-profit organizations or organizations of a non-commercial character. There are however no restrictions to registration. So from a technical perspective -- it is business as usual.

If your goal is to follow the intent and launch onto a .org domain an organization then you are looking at a business which generates no profit. This means that there is no equity with returns on capital. All of the revenue over expenses is reinvested in the organization. The organization is incorporate to meet a public purpose -- and (in the US) if it chooses can file with the IRS to be exempt from paying certain taxes.

The organization may or may not have members separate from it's board. It may or may not have a diverse membership elected board. It may or may not have staff. It may or may not have product. It may or may not gets grants. It may or may not . . . . You get the point.

The most significant pitfall is an organization is forgetting that it is still an entity that needs a purpose, goals, mission, plan. It needs a way to pay its bills -- and the people who do are "customers' for a reason.

In other words : the fundamentals still hold. What do you offer of value to who and are they willing to pay what is necessary to get it.

More that you probably want to know about available TLDs (top level domains) and their use / designation. .ORG information can be read about in the IANA site. .org sites are also frequently used for open source projects as well.