Established in 1974, Preservation Durham's mission is to "protect Durham’s historic assets through action, advocacy and education." Hanbury Preservation Consulting worked together with Preservation Durham to design, implement, and document a historic preservation needs assessment. The needs assessment was both a process and a tool to solicit input from various constituencies and the community at large to determine what issues and needs existed in the community and what were perceived to be the most important.
The assessment was designed to accomplish three organizational goals: to align programs with needs in the community; choose 1-3 programs for immediate short term focus; and evaluate existing "legacy programs." Using the needs assessment to evaluate and focus Preservation Durham's programming, the organization was better equipped to address the preservation needs in the community more effectively by allocating its resources more efficiently.