The Lawshe Fund Campaign is an annual appeal that is sent out at the end of every calendar year. Our 2022 fundraising goal is $14,000! We have more than $4,700 available in matches to help your donation go further! Your donations help fund our organization's operations and ensures we end the year on a positive note. We have surpassed our fundraising goal for the past six years and set records the past two years.

If you would like to help increase our fundraising efforts by offering a match, please contact Matt Carter at 651-552-7548 to discuss opportunities.

Organizational Background

The fund itself is named for Fred Lawshe, the organization's founder, who in 1939 joined other historically minded individuals to create an organization to preserve Dakota County's history, today's Dakota County Historical Society (DCHS). Today, DCHS "preserves, interprets and promotes the history of Dakota County" through our operations of three historic sites. In order to help ensure financial stability, the annual campaign gives history lovers and supporters the opportunity to financially contribute to our mission.

Each year since 2016, we have established an organizational fundraising goal and our supporters and donors have recognized the significant contributions of our organization by providing financial donations to the campaign. We have been beyond grateful for the steadily increasing funds provided to the Lawshe Fund. Since 2018, we have been able to offer matching funds to help extend your individual contribution. 

Double Your Donation

Did you know that you may be able to have your contribution matched by the business you work for? Many businesses will offer to match your donation at 1:1 basis - this means that every dollar you donate, your business will also donate a dollar! To see if your business offers a 1:1 match, please view our list of Matching Gifts. If your company offers a match and is not listed, please let us know.

DCHS currently have multiple matches available to help your donation go further!

• The DCHS Board of Trustees joined efforts to offer a Board Match of $1,700 this year. To show their support of DCHS, they once again encourage others to give and match their contributions.

• Former DCHS board president Bob Damon, and his wife Michelle, have provided a match up to $1,000 this year. Bob joined the board in 2015 and served as board president from 2016 - 2020, when his term ended. Bob and Michelle have continued their support of the organization through generous contributions, as well as attending many of our events throughout the year.

• A long-time volunteer couple has offered a match up to $1,000 this year. For the past 10 years, they have volunteered for the organization combing through newspapers for articles related to Dakota County and filing them away for preservation in our archive and future researchers.

• A long-time researcher has anonymously offered a match of $520 this year. The researcher has used their research to write books, scholarly articles, and shared their knowledge through presentations.

• The Friends of the Sibley Historic Site offer a match of $500 this year. The Friends of Sibley have helped DCHS achieve our mission at the Sibley Site by offsetting expenses for programming and advertising, while also helping maintain the grounds.

If you would like to help increase fundraising for our organization by offering a match, please contact Matt Carter at 651-552-7548.

Lawshe Fund 

In 2020, despite COVID, we were able to raise more than $16,000. A record at the time, our 2021 Lawshe Fund went even further and raised $16,800. To help us try and reach our goal and perhaps set another record, DCHS staff member Lisa Imbryk created graphics to help "bury" the Sibley Site in snow (donations). As the donations came in, the amount of snow will increase around the Site.

For 2022, we have set a fundraising goal of $14,000. We hope you help us surpass our fundraising goal once again, keeping our consecutive streak alive since 2016.

For your convenience, we have a variety of ways you can give toward the Lawshe Fund. You can use our website to process your donation below. You can also call your donation in over the phone by calling us at the Lawshe Museum (651-552-7548). If you prefer to send a check, you can send it to the Dakota County Historical Society, 130 3rd Avenue N, South St. Paul, MN 55075. Be sure to write in the memo "2022 Lawshe Fund" so we can accurately track your contribution.

If you wish your donation be in memory / honor of another individual, please include that person's name in the "Note" section below, or on the memo of your check.