Should you send Christmas cards or donations?

Have you noticed in the last couple of years an increasing trend for companies not to send Christmas cards? Instead, I’ve frequently received emails with words to this effect:

“We’re not sending cards this Christmas, instead we’re donating the money to the retired Santa charity fund.”

I don’t know about you, but this raises an important question in my mind – how much is being donated? It seems to me that this is often being done more as a cost saving scheme rather than a genuine interest in helping charity. If companies are really interested in helping a charity they should look to a longer term partnership, rather than a one off donation.

But what do you think? Should companies continue to send cards, or abandon cards for the charity donation scheme? Or is a mixture appropriate, where key clients receive personalised Christmas greetings cards?