It’s about that time of the year again…
The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) will announce grant winners soon!
You may already know about, or have even applied for, a Legacy Grant through MNHS. But what you may not know is that MNHS is also disclosing winners for the Heritage Partnership Program.
The Heritage Partnership Program is a pool of money set aside by MNHS with the goal of growing and preserving local history and culture. It funds and enables Minnesota-based organizations to leverage their existing and new partnerships to coordinate programs into existence. What’s more, every partner benefits in a unified vision, goals, and the lasting outcomes from their program. And unlike Legacy Grants, instead of competing for a defined amount of money, partnerships are funded based on its fit into a very specific criterion.
Projects vs. programs: projects have a defined end date, while programs do not have a determined end date.
For local and Tribal governments and non-profits, the Heritage Partnership Program presents a unique and largely underutilized opportunity. 106 Group can help conceptualize, plan and execute successful grant-funded initiatives.
Let’s dig in…
A Case for Partnership Grants
Getting More Done, Together
At 106 Group, we often see how the right funding mechanism does more than just pay for a project; it can also structure the very collaboration that makes the work meaningful. The Shakopee Riverfront Cultural Trail Signage project stands as a prime example of how partnership-focused grants, such as those supported by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, can bridge diverse stakeholders.
Initially, this program began with Three Rivers Park District and Scott County Historical Society asking “how can we develop a multi-use trail experience to highlight 10,000 years of human history along the Shakopee Riverfront?”
The challenge was to not simply install wayfinding along the Minnesota River, but to “caption the landscape” in a way that authentically represents thousands of years of history. This required a level of deep, sustained dialogue that traditional infrastructure grants rarely support, bringing together five distinct community partners:
- The City of Shakopee – a municipal government
- The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) – a Tribal government
- Scott County, the Scott County Historical Society – a 501(c)(3)
- The Three Rivers Park District – a special government district/agency
To achieve the goals of this program, 106 Group was hired using funds from a first round of partnership grants to oversee the formation of the partnership. The structure of this partnership was instrumental in moving beyond a standard client-consultant relationship. Because the funding prioritized collaborative governance, our team was able to facilitate a design process that gave equal weight to Indigenous knowledge and municipal goals. This framework allowed us to work directly with SMSC advisors to integrate the Dakota language and cultural perspectives into the signage family.
After the partnership was officially formed, the next round of partnership grants funded the design phase of the project, where the partnership worked with 106 Group to design interpretive elements to highlight the history of Shakopee as a cohesive, engaging experience. Instead of a single approval at the end, the grant timeline supported an iterative engagement process, ensuring that the original artwork and interpretive content respected Dakota culture while fostering a deeper connection between all visitors and the land.
The outcome is a wayfinding system that serves as a visible testament to the power of shared investment. The final deliverables—including interpretive nodes, trail maps, and 3D tactile features for accessibility—are unified by design guidelines inspired by the river valley’s natural resources. By leveraging a grant vehicle designed to build capacity between organizations, the partners moved from having separate, potentially competing narratives to a cohesive visitor experience. For other communities looking to undertake complex cultural resource projects, this case illustrates that securing funding for partnership is just as critical as funding for fabrication.
Learn more about the Shakopee River Front Cultural Trail Signage
Partnership Requirements
MNHS defines a partnership as two or more independent organizations that work together on the same program. All partnered parties must have an active, vested interest in the program, contribute in a tangible way to the program, have a common mission and/or goals towards building/expanding the programs. Additionally, MNHS weighs in on if the partnership will increase public benefit and legacy greater than as individual entities.
What Qualifies as a Partnership?
What Qualifies?
- Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations
- State and local governments
- Federally recognized tribes
- Education institutions
What does not?
- Individuals
- For-profit corporations and organizations
- Minnesota Historical Society and its divisions, departments, or work units
- All units of federal government
What Types of Projects Get Funded?
The Heritage Partnership Program is designed to build and strengthen relationships between organizations as they preserve and provide access to Minnesota’s history and cultural resources. Through all the funded partnership programs, the common thread is an outcome that builds the capacity of the individual partners and the partnership network.
What do we mean by capacity? The Heritage Partnership Program is built on the idea that small organizations can accomplish more by working together with like-minded partners than they ever could by attempting it alone. For example, a county or municipal historical society might establish a formal partnership with a local watershed district or county park agency to develop programming or exhibits that tell how agriculture in the 19th and 20th centuries impacted the local prairies. A City or County government might partner with a Tribal government to develop a planning framework for identifying and preserving traditional cultural places within their communities. Or, like the case study above, a Tribal government, local government, a special government district/agency, and non-profit can form a partnership to tell the story of a historically rich local trail. By teaming together with local organizations that share common goals, the potential impact of these initiatives increases exponentially.
Specifically, this program assists partnerships wishing to build their abilities to streamline services and maximize public benefits in relation to the preservation of Minnesota’s history and .
- Shared workforce
- Hiring a third party contractor to align partnership visions and goals, and to help guide the process of applying for further grant funding.
- Hiring a coordinator to facilitate student access to Minnesota history at local history organizations and other history entities.
- Hiring a curator for multiple history museums to improve the quality of regional documentation.
- Shared services
- Contracting with a training provider to present skills seminars among multiple constituencies.
- Developing a regional or community-based team to streamline disaster response efforts for historic properties, public records, museum collections, or archives.
- Contracting with an interpretive specialist to create integrated heritage tourism or exhibits programs.
- Shared resources
- Develop a regional disaster response and recovery supply cache as part of a regional disaster team program (e.g., develop and purchase supplies for disaster kits).
- Plan, develop, and implement digital solutions for uniting historic resources to promote better public and student access to Minnesota history.
- Developing cooperative agreements and procedures to manage historic properties, public records, museum collections, or archives.
If your program or partnership doesn’t fall into the above guidelines, not to worry; it’s encouraged to call or email the MNHS Grants office to discuss your idea. As mentioned above, the guidelines are less set in stone around what can be funded.
What’s the Next Partnership Grant Deadline?
The Heritage Partnership Program operates on an annual funding cycle. This includes a rigorous two-step application process designed to ensure project viability and eligibility before final submission.
- Mandatory Pre-Application: All applicants are required to submit a pre-application draft. This step is unfortunately not optional; it allows Grants Office staff to verify that the partnership meets the program’s strict criteria and provides an opportunity for applicants to receive critical feedback to strengthen their proposal. Failure to submit a pre-application by the deadline renders the partnership ineligible for that funding cycle.
- Final Application: Applicants who successfully complete the pre-application phase are invited to submit a final application. This final proposal should incorporate the feedback and technical guidance received during the pre-application review.
Both steps have strict submission deadlines (typically 11:59 p.m. on the due date). Late submissions are not accepted.
How can 106 Group Help?
Need help planning your partnership? 106 Group partners with you to turn ambitious ideas into reality.
Bill Walker
Bill is a seasoned historian, interpreter, and cultural resources manager with over 25 years of service in the field. His wide-ranging experience with the National Park Service, regional park systems, and a variety of museums and historical societies has taken him all over the country.
