Exit Interview: Richard Moe, President, National Trust for Historic Preservation

Where he’s going: Mr. Moe, 72, is retiring from the trust after 17 years as leader of the Washington group. He will stay until his successor is named.

Biggest accomplishments on the job: “I think we broadened the reach of preservation, and the support for preservation, in America,” says Mr. Moe. “The most vital places in any city in America are the revitalized downtowns,” a concept the organization helped champion. He is also proud that the charity diversified its staff, programs, and supporters during his tenure, and that it has promoted the preservation of older buildings as a means of protecting the environment.

Biggest challenges: Keeping the trust’s coffers filled. The charity, which now has an annual budget of $55-million, saw its budget nearly double under Mr. Moe, who helped the organization lessen its reliance on federal support beginning in the mid-1990s. “We changed our culture. Everyone at the trust is now a fund raiser, we’ve become more entrepreneurial,” he says, noting that on his watch the organization set up several subsidiaries to produce revenue. “This is how more nonprofits will have to go,” he says. “Business as usual isn’t going to make it, certainly not in this environment.”

Background: Mr. Moe served in the Carter administration as a senior staff member, notably as chief of staff to Vice President Walter Mondale. He was practicing law in Washington when hired to lead the trust in 1993.

Salary: $350,000

Other nonprofit ties: Mr. Moe serves on the board of the Ford Foundation.

Retirement plans: He intends to write a historical work, visit the American West, and, he says, “I’ll fill in the blanks as I go along.”