Omaha Steaks gives to their community

s some advice to nonprofits…)

29 Nov 2010

by Marijane Miller

One little perk that brightened our quick trip to Vegas during Blogworld this year was a lovely cocktail party hosted by Omaha Steaks. Yes, that’s right, techies loovvvve them some well cooked beef on little toothpicks. Don’t judge. And, by the way, Omaha Steaks has legit tech cred as they were all over the cybertube marketing thing via CompuServe way back in 1990. So it was a very genial evening all around.
While I was trying to circle the carving station without looking desperate (kind of like speed dating, but with food), I met Beth Weiss, the Omaha Steaks Corporate Communications Director. Feeling a need to justify my presence, I asked her if the family-owned (still!) company was particularly philanthropic. The answer was a resounding yes, with particular emphasis on the arts and on health and human services organizations. A few weeks later, Beth and I spoke on the phone about why giving back is so important to the Simon family.
Our conversation began with Weiss providing a little of the fascinating family history and telling how the company began in 1917 as the Table Supply Meat Company and expanded to Omaha Steaks International. Today the fifth generation of Simons continue to support the community they feel gave them so much, especially in the arts. Beth explained that the Simons believe “The arts are so powerful in their ability to educate people, to energize people, bring people together, [and] catapult us to a higher quality of life.” In many a program for operas, concerts, and museum exhibits you’ll see a Sponsored By credit for Omaha Steaks. Their other area of philanthropy focuses on health – the Multiple Sclerosis Society, Juvenile Diabetes, the American Heart Association, and the American Cancer Society. As you might guess, a lot of organizations come to them for support. “On average I would say we probably get between three and five hundred requests a week from organizations and schools and churches and art centers and pre-schools, “ said Weiss. “I mean, I could go on and on.”
So, I asked, how do you make the decision to give?
Weiss admitted it could be very difficult, but shared a few insights about their decision-making process. “My recommendation would be before you ever solicit money, do your homework. Do a little research on what the company is involved in, what their areas of focus are, so that you know first and foremost are you really in an area that might be of interest to them. Then I would say be very detailed about what your mission is.”
What shouldn’t a nonprofit do? Weiss explained that, “a big mistake sometimes that charitable organizations make – they ask for a number that is so far off of the charts that unfortunately we could never do it.” Instead, Weiss suggested, “start with a more conservative amount. Send us something at the $5,000 level and the $10,000 level, give us some choices. But initially, your first year or so give us a few lower levels from which to choose. If we’re drawn to the proposal, if we think it’s a good cause then we’ll come in for a year and maybe we’ll come at the $5,000 level. And what we’re doing on our end, too, is kind of our own research. How is this organization handling the money and are they fulfilling the mission and how many people are being served and that kind of thing. And then, once that relationship is developed, then we can step up to higher levels.”
Weiss emphasized more than once how generous the Simons are. “This is hands-down the most humanitarian, charitable company I’ve ever worked for. The Simons, they just live and breathe this, they truly do.” I asked how that benefited the company. She answered that she did feel it helped with employee loyalty and retention; that employees definitely felt a sense of pride when they see the support the company provides to their hometown. But in the end, there was really only one reason to do it: “It’s just the right thing to do.”