Gray had conceived of a visionary project to arrest the settlement of the Leaning Tower of Pisa by freezing the soil underneath, and he formed the organization in 1965 as a vehicle for the implementation of this idea.

In 1966 Gray secured the support of philanthropist Lila Acheson Wallace (1889–1984), who offered $150,000 to the International Fund for Monuments and UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) for this project.

The International Fund for Monuments set up a "Venice Committee", with Professor John McAndrew (1904–1978) of Wellesley College as chairman and Gray as executive secretary.

The site was the keystone of a defensive system constructed in the early period of Haitian independence to protect the young state from French attempts to reclaim it as a colony.

[5] Through donations and matching funds, WMF has worked with local community and government partners worldwide to safeguard and conserve places of historic value for future generations.

Among highly prominent projects, starting in 1990, are many temples at Angkor, Cambodia, including Preah Khan and Phnom Bakheng; the Château de Chantilly in Chantilly, France; the ghost town of Craco, Italy; many structures in Rome, including the Temple of Hercules, Santa Maria Antiqua, and the House of Augustus; several sites on Easter Island; various sites at ancient Luxor in Egypt; Lalibela in Ethiopia; San Ignacio Miní in Argentina; the ancient Maya city of Naranjo, Guatemala; the Segovia Aqueduct in Segovia, Spain; as well as 25 projects in Venice, Italy, over 20 years.

WMF has also participated in projects in the United States, including Ellis Island, Taos Pueblo, Mesa Verde National Park, the Mount Lebanon Shaker Society, and many sites in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

Since the first list was compiled in 1996, this program has drawn international attention to cultural heritage sites around the world threatened by neglect, vandalism, armed conflict, commercial development, natural disasters, and climate change.

[7] WMF also operates a number of special initiatives that transcend individual projects at specific sites and address broader themes in heritage preservation.

The inaugural prize was awarded to Brenne Gesellschaft von Architekten for the restoration of the former ADGB Trade Union School in Germany, which was inscribed as part of the Bauhaus World Heritage Site in July 2017.

Some of WMF's long-term partners have included American Express, Knoll, the Robert W. Wilson Challenge to Conserve Our Heritage, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, and Tiffany & Co.