North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum

As a VENUE: Host your event…

Whether it’s an intimate seated dinner surrounded by the brilliance of our spectacular Northern Lights Atrium or an elegant corporate event in the Missouri River Event Center, the North Dakota Heritage Center offers imaginative new spaces to make every event truly unforgettable. We offer architecturally stunning and educationally rich spaces where people can dine, visit museum galleries, and socialize in the shadow of a towering mastodon. Six distinctive rental spaces are offered:

• Northern Lights Atrium: The stunning Northern Lights Atrium is considered to be one of the most unique places in Bismarck-Mandan.
  • Capacity: 90 guests
• Missouri River Event Center: The newly renovated Missouri River Event Center has an open floor plan that is perfect for banquets, receptions, and presentations.
  • Capacity: 200 guests
• Russell Reid Auditorium: Newly renovated with a backstage area, comfortable seating, and a large new screen, the auditorium is ideal for company meetings, lectures, film showings.
  • Capacity: 265 guests
• Great Plains Theatre: This new State Museum space is ideal for small gatherings of less than 65 people, film showings, and lectures.
  • Capacity: 65 guests
• Classroom Spaces: Our three classrooms with screens are the perfect versatile spaces for anything from a quick lunch to an all-day team-building space that’s already set up for learning.
  • Capacity: 25 guests per room
• Badlands Plaza: (Outdoors at the west entrance) The Badlands Plaza provides the perfect outdoor location for your wedding reception or corporate event. Showcasing a grand view of the State Capitol, this elegant location is one of a kind.

Support the North Dakota Heritage Center and State Museum …by simply booking your next special occasion here:

https://statemuseum.nd.gov/about/rentals

As a SHOP: Discover unique gifts…

Visit our Museum Store for a tremendous selection of North Dakota-related merchandise, including: * Handcrafted items * Books * Pride of Dakota products * Children’s items, and * more. Your purchase supports the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Foundation members receive a 15 percent discount on all purchases. Shopping is convenient and secure with the State Historical Society online Museum Store. The store stocks a tremendous selection of North Dakota-related products, books, videos, Lewis and Clark-related items, as well as a variety of handcrafted items made right here in our beautiful state. Our Mission: Our museum stores act as an educational extension of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, by providing visitors with quality merchandise that identifies, interprets, and promotes the heritage of North Dakota and its people. Merchandise is catalogued within these collections: Apparel/Textiles * Books * Food * Handcrafted * Jewelry * Kids * Media/CDs & DVDs * North Dakota * Notecards/Calendars, and * Souvenirs.

Support the North Dakota Heritage Center and State Museum …by simply purchasing your specialty merchandise here:

https://statemuseum.nd.gov/visit/museum/shop-dine

As an EATERY: Food for thought…

The James River Café offers North Dakota-themed baked breakfast * pastries * soups * salads * sandwiches * paninis * pizzas, specialty * desserts and specialty * coffees and * teas. As a whimsical nod to the dinosaur casts in the State Museum, the café also offers freshly baked T. rex and Triceratops * cookies. The café is available for catering appetizers and full meals during regular hours and after hours. For food service needs, facility users must furnish food and beverages via the James River Café (Harvest Catering & Events) or from any licensed food service vendor.

Support the North Dakota Heritage Center and State Museum …by simply dining here:

https://statemuseum.nd.gov/visit/museum/shop-dine

Be a DONOR: Show that you care…

Membership:

Membership at specified levels are offered: * Benefactor * Director * Founder * Investor/Trustee * Patron * Sustaining * Family, and * Individual. Gift memberships and Canadian memberships are encouraged. 

Donation:

State Historical Society Endowment funds are used exclusively for special projects carried out for the benefit of the public by the State Historical Society of North Dakota. If you would like to donate to a specific project or historic site, please specify when you make your donation. Learn about ways to make a donation to the State Historical Society and the State Historical Society of North Dakota Foundation.

• Planned Giving: Your gift to the Historical Society Foundation’s endowment provides an ongoing resource. Leave your legacy…make history. Private funding is essential for the State Historical Society of North Dakota to fulfill its mission: “to identify, preserve, interpret and promote the heritage of North Dakota and its people.”  The Historical Society Foundation is here to support the mission and activities of the Society. You, too, can provide ongoing support through a planned gift. In addition to significant tax benefits for you or your estate, a planned gift is an investment in the future.
• Gifts with Immediate Benefit:
  • Cash: A cash gift is the most convenient way to make a gift to the Historical Society Foundation. Your gift benefits us immediately and you receive a charitable giving tax deduction on this year’s return. In addition to a federal deduction, North Dakota offers a 40% state tax credit for gifts of $5,000 or more to qualified North Dakota 501(c)3 endowments such as the Historical Society Foundation’s endowment fund.
  • Securities: A gift of stocks or bonds may provide you with an even greater tax benefit. If you have owned securities for more than one year and the value has increased, you can avoid capital gains taxes and receive a charitable giving tax deduction equal to the fair market value of your gifts.
  • Real Estate: A gift of real estate that has been held for more than one year provides you with a charitable giving tax deduction based on the current value of the property, while avoiding capital gains tax on the sale of your property.
• Gifts that Leave a Legacy:
  • Charitable Bequests: Aside from cash giving, perhaps the best known vehicle for philanthropy is the bequest. A bequest is a gift made through your will or trust, documenting your wishes today without relinquishing assets during your lifetime.
  • Charitable Gift Annuity:  A charitable gift annuity is similar to a charitable trust, but simpler. You transfer your cash or property to us and we promise to make a fixed payment to you for life at a rate based on your age. In addition to the security of fixed income, you receive a charitable income tax deduction and a portion of each of your annuity payments may be tax free.
  • IRA Rollover: If you are 70½ or older, you may also be interested in lower the taxes on your IRA withdrawals. An IRA charitable rollover is a way you can help us continue our work you realize the benefit this year. Contact us for more information about the benefits of an IRA rollover and how it works.

Donate to the Archives: The State Archives actively acquires, preserves, and makes accessible to researchers historical materials relating to Dakota Territory, North Dakota and the upper Great Plains. The State Archives wishes to acquire for permanent preservation: * newspapers * letters * diaries * organizational or business records * photographs * maps, and * audio/visual materials. Special emphases include: * agriculture * military * education * Native Americans * ethnic groups * religion * mining/drilling * politics, and * social organizations.

Donate Objects to the Museum: The State Historical Society is actively collecting objects for its museum collections. To offer an item for donation to the museum, simply fill out the Potential Acquisition form. Your offer will be e-mailed directly to the museum staff. All items offered for donation to the museum will be reviewed by the Museum Collections Committee to determine if it fulfills the needs of the Society, does not duplicate existing items, and to ensure that the Society can adequately care for the item. The Society rarely purchases or borrows artifacts/objects. There is minimal funding for purchasing collections. The Society borrows objects only when needed for specific exhibits.

Volunteer: Volunteers are essential to the quality of service provided to the public by the State Historical Society of North Dakota. In addition to the thousands of visitors at the North Dakota Heritage Center, Pembina State Museum, and historic sites each year, the agency responds to many inquiries and provides assistance to researchers. At the North Dakota Heritage Center, public areas such as the information desk and museum store are staffed by volunteers, and docents provide museum teaching for visitors.

Support the North Dakota Heritage Center and State Museum …by simply joining, giving, and volunteering here:

https://www.history.nd.gov/donate.html