A privately funded nonprofit that stewards historic sites, funds preservation projects and advocates public policy to protect America's historic places nationwide.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded nonprofit organisation dedicated to protecting and preserving America's historic places. Working with communities across the United States, it operates through three principal channels: stewardship of historic sites, advocacy at the federal, state and local levels, and revitalisation of places of cultural and architectural significance. The organisation's stated aim is to secure such places for future generations, with a focus on the economic, environmental and civic benefits that preservation can bring to communities.
Its work spans several programmes. The Historic Sites Collection comprises historic properties the Trust stewards and operates nationwide. The Preservation Grants Program and the Historic Preservation Fund award financial support to projects protecting historic places. The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund mobilises public support and resources to preserve sites significant to African American history, while America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, an annual list of threatened sites, is used to rally attention and funding for their survival.
Professional domains within the organisation include historic site stewardship and management, advocacy and public policy, community revitalisation, grantmaking, and the conservation of architectural, cultural and landscape heritage. The Trust describes itself as committed to a diversity of heritage and to long-term stewardship, and places weight on public engagement and mobilisation in support of its mission.
