What the Big Givers Are Giving

IN CORPORATE OFFICES all over the land, the discussion is in high gear: What to give the good customers for Christmas this year. Venerable scotch again? Another bushel of Florida citrus? More airmailed Kansas steaks or Maine lobsters? Those edible standards are always safe (and certainly more likely to please than a lucite paperweight with the firm’s trademark embedded in it, or—one outfit I know of actually sends it out—a suitable-for- framing picture of the company’s president and his family). But they’re a little too standard and safe for the company that wants to show imagination and to be remembered fondly.

Problem is, once you depart from the standard you must find an item (or items) at once out of the ordinary and likely to please everyone or nearly everyone—and for $25 or less, if the firm wants to deduct the whole cost from its income tax. One way is to let the recipient select his own gift: Several mail-order firms catering to corporate givers will send out certificates in various amounts, with a list of the gifts available. Alas, their merchandise is unimaginative and chintzy, strictly on the trading-stamp-catalog level. A better plan would be to give gift certificates from a prestige store—though this will work only if all or almost all the firm’s customers are in the same city. Ideally, a firm will not rely on one gift (or two —one for men, one for women) to please several dozen or several hundred individuals of widely differing ages, situations and tastes. Many companies find it worth the extra time and effort (and money) to match each name on the list with one gift from a selection of several. Salesmen and others who have personal contact with recipients can be of tremendous help in this process. A gift that can appropriately be addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Soandso is always well-received.

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Ferris Cork

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IN CORPORATE OFFICES all over the land, the discussion is in high gear: What to give the good customers for Christmas this year. Venerable scotch again? Another bushel of Florida citrus? More airmailed Kansas steaks or Maine lobsters? Those edible standards are always safe (and certainly more likely to please than a lucite paperweight with the firm’s trademark embedded in it, or—one outfit I know of actually sends it out—a suitable-for- framing picture of the company’s president and his family). But they’re a little too standard and safe for the company that wants to show imagination and to be remembered fondly.

Problem is, once you depart from the standard you must find an item (or items) at once out of the ordinary and likely to please everyone or nearly everyone—and for $25 or less, if the firm wants to deduct the whole cost from its income tax. One way is to let the recipient select his own gift: Several mail-order firms catering to corporate givers will send out certificates in various amounts, with a list of the gifts available. Alas, their merchandise is unimaginative and chintzy, strictly on the trading-stamp-catalog level. A better plan would be to give gift certificates from a prestige store—though this will work only if all or almost all the firm’s customers are in the same city. Ideally, a firm will not rely on one gift (or two —one for men, one for women) to please several dozen or several hundred individuals of widely differing ages, situations and tastes. Many companies find it worth the extra time and effort (and money) to match each name on the list with one gift from a selection of several. Salesmen and others who have personal contact with recipients can be of tremendous help in this process. A gift that can appropriately be addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Soandso is always well-received.