Minnesota Sesquicentennial Grants Program 2007 to 2008
General Information for Micro-Grants and Legacy Grants
In 2007, the Minnesota Legislature appropriated $325,000 for a Sesquicentennial Grant program to be available to communities and organizations across Minnesota, to be managed by the Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission. The mission of the Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission is to plan, promote, and oversee Minnesota’s 150th Anniversary of statehood. The anniversary year begins on January 1, 2008 and concludes on December 31, 2008. The goals of the Sesquicentennial Commission, a 17-member body created by the Minnesota Legislature, include:
- Achieving broad participation of the people of Minnesota, visitors, local communities, institutions and organizations in activities across the state;
- Raising awareness and educating Minnesotans by telling the stories of our past, recognizing the indigenous people of Minnesota, and learning from them and the many ethnic groups that have come and continue to come to Minnesota.
Developing a shared vision for the state’s future by engaging Minnesotans in civic dialogue;
- Leaving a lasting legacy through print, visual, musical, and other reminders, as well as media documentation
Grant Criteria: The Sesquicentennial Grant Program will help ensure that communities have some resources to create sesquicentennial activities that are meaningful to local residents and at the same time emphasize or build connections between the local community and the state as a whole. These connections may be historic, current, or looking to the future.
The Sesquicentennial is a unique opportunity to celebrate Minnesota as a connected community of locally diverse people, places, and culture. Community activities, projects, and events may be newly-created to commemorate the Sesquicentennial or may be existing activities that can be expanded and enhanced to include a Sesquicentennial theme. The Commission is particularly interested in supporting efforts that explore Minnesota’s past, present, and future through these themes: arts and culture, education, health and wellness, innovation, and Minnesota’s natural resources and great outdoors.
Grant Eligibility: Eligible applicant organizations must have a 501© 3 or 501© 6 not-for-profit status or be a unit of the public sector (this could include local and county government and higher education and local school districts. Ad hoc projects or those without not-for-profit status may apply through a third-party not-for-profit fiscal agent.
All Sesquicentennial Grants are matching grants whereby the amount of any grant award cannot exceed 50% of the total project costs. Matching funds may be cash, in-kind, and/or donated services or materials contributed to the project. NOTE: cash from other State of Minnesota sources or funds cannot be counted toward your Sesquicentennial match but in-kind support can be counted, including staff time or materials.
Grant Categories:
Category One - Micro-Grants: Up to 150 small grants of up to $1,000 each may be made available to communities and organizations proposing an activity, event or project to promote the Sesquicentennial. At least one micro-grant will be awarded in each county in Minnesota. Multi-county projects are encouraged. The grant award maximum in such collaborative projects between communities and/or organizations across multiple counties will be $1,000 times the number of counties involved. (For example, with five counties involved you can apply for up to $5000.)
The deadline for the first round of grant applications is August 15, 2007, 4:30 p.m., with grant awards made by September 15, 2007. There will be a second round of micro-grant applications in December, 2007 (December 7 deadline with awards announced January 15, 2008).
Category Two - Legacy Grants: A limited number of major grants of $5,000 - $7,500 will be made available to entities conducting projects that create "Sesquicentennial legacies.'' These are enduring creations or investments that will be remembered and useful into succeeding generations. These may be new projects or enhancements to existing projects. Round one Legacy grant applications will be due September 10, 2007, 4:30 p.m., with grant awards made in mid to late October, 2007.
Review Criteria: All grants will be assessed in terms of alignment with Sesquicentennial goals and themes; the demonstrated ability of the applicant to execute the project; and the quality and completeness of requested information.
Micro grants awards will be made by Sesquicentennial staff. Staff will also screen Legacy grants to ensure proposals meet guidelines; final approval for Legacy awards will be made by a Grant Review Committee.
Eligible project or program areas for either Micro Grants or Legacy Grants: community improvement projects; civic engagement projects (in particular those that pay attention to informed planning, preparing for the future and collaborating across communities, disciplines, and cultures); interpretive and discussion programs that help us learn from the past; performances and festivals; oral history, exhibit research and fabrication; publications, music, and other artistic creations aimed at general audiences; school curricula and projects involving community participants; public conferences and symposia; film/radio/TV/CD/DVD products.
PLEASE NOTE: If applying for Legacy Grants, your creations or investments must be enduring. Will they be remembered and useful into succeeding generations? These may be new projects or enhancements to existing project, however….
Legacy grants must result in a tangible ‘something’—a product, improvement, resource, exhibit, curricula, publication, artistic form (example: composition, exhibit, etc.) or physical improvement in a community structure or museum collections, etc.
If it is a proposal for a community service volunteer effort it must show definable outcomes Under this definition, lecture/discussion programs and ‘festivals’ and celebrations will probably not qualify for the Legacy Grants if they have no tangible outcome/product.
As for oral history projects and exhibit or manuscript research, such projects are eligible for legacy funding only if they will yield, at some point in the near future a real exhibit/text or program/event making use of the oral history (or other) research. Proposals for Legacy Grants to support research/collection projects must be clearly tied to a definable outcome in the form of a real exhibit or program/publication/event utilizing collected oral and other research. If the proposal is for public conferences and/or symposia, the proposal would be stronger if some sort of ‘proceedings’ or other useful product emerges from the conference/symposia that will be useful to this and succeeding generations.
Eligible/ineligible expenses: Sesquicentennial grant funds cannot be used for administrative expenses unrelated to the funded project, for regular staff costs, general operating expenses or maintenance expenses. Grant funds may not be used to acquire permanent equipment except when such purchases are central to carrying out the funded project.
Prior Expenses: Grant funds cannot cover expenses incurred prior to the project starting date assigned to your project.
Grant Application instructions: Please fill out the appropriate form (you can download it by clicking the link located in the box on the upper right side of this page). Send an electronic copy in Word format to info@mn150years.org, and mail the original hard copy, signed, along with four (for Micro Grants) or eight (for Legacy Grants) hard copies, to Minnesota Sesquicentennial Grants Program, 240 Summit Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55102. If you have questions you can email them to info@mn150years.org, or call 651-296-1870. You will note that we haven’t left much space for your responses because you will be adding space as you need it when you complete your application in the Word document. Brevity is appreciated