And as goes business at major Omaha corporations, so goes their United Way contributions, and Conagra Brands, formerly ConAgra Foods, is a powerful example. While contributions dipped in general after the recession in 2009, the food giant’s decision to move its headquarters to Chicago cost the city 1,000 lost jobs and 300 more jobs that moved, with those employees taking their United Way donations to the Windy City.
The total loss, said a former chief fundraiser, could be between $500,000 and $1 million, of a $1.3 million total contribution.
“You can’t overcome that kind of loss in a year,” said Jeff Beckman, who in 2015 was the United Way’s chief fundraiser. He now is executive director of development at the Salvation Army.
Conagra Brands spokeswoman Kristine Mulford said the company continues to “provide very significant support,” to Omaha’s United Way, but she declined to provide a dollar amount. Tax records of Conagra’s foundation show a 38 percent drop from 2014 to 2016 in its annual gift to the United Way.