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As the year comes to an end, and our calendars offer usstructured time away from work to look back at the year gone by,something of a collective consciousness opens up. People who don'ttypically think about charity or giving throughout the year areencouraged to do so. A mass movement around the holiday givingseason encourages friends and colleagues to donate their time andmoney to help those in need. Yet, in spite of (or perhaps becauseof) the holiday spirit, corporate philanthropy sometimes feelscomplicated.

There are many misconceptions around corporate giving – the mostcommon being that it's a self-serving excuse to make companies lookbetter. Perhaps this cynicism stems from a sense of corporateconvolution around the practice. What's the most strategicinitiative to garner media attention? Will there be tax write-offs?What's our initiative's clever catchphrase? Too many people getcaught up in the "corporate" part and forget about the real reasonto be philanthropic: to give.

But it doesn't need to be this way – in fact, it shouldn'tbe.

This holiday season, rethink your "giving season" philosophy.Focus on the holiday spirit that inspires giving this time of yearand prioritize being authentic, thoughtful, and sensitive to yourcharitable donors and recipients. Here's how to achieve that thisholiday season and how to maintain that mindset throughout theyear.

Be authentic

When selecting a philanthropic initiative, avoid thinking aboutthe media attention or marketing value it might bring. Instead,focus on the issue or issues you believe in. Whether that'shomelessness, hunger, civil rights, or anything else, steer yourphilanthropy based on your core beliefs.

Also remember that your firm's beliefs are made up of youremployees' beliefs. Make sure they have a voice and that you'relistening. Small financial advisor businesses certainly will beable to incorporate their team's voices, but bigger firms can too.One powerful way to encourage authentic giving is through anemployee match program, where the company matches employeedonations. This is a sincere, anonymous, and powerful way to committo corporate philanthropy — the company won't get much publiccredit or applause, but it will engage employees and make a genuineimpact on the causes they're committed too.

Carefully plan your giving

The holiday giving season is a great time of year to reviewcompany finances, plan for the year ahead, and put money aside tofund philanthropic initiatives. It's also a good opportunity todetermine whether or not you can allocate more budget tophilanthropy, even if it means putting aside money to use towards adifferent initiative in the following year.

One effective way to do this is by donating to a donor-advicefund. The moment you contribute money into the fund counts as thedonation moment, but the money can sit there, growing tax-free,until employees decide where to direct it.

Business owners should always plan out their philanthropy – theamount of money, which organization it will be donated to, andwhen. One factor that contributes to the perception of corporatephilanthropy as disingenuous is that often it only happens once ayear and that it's perceived to happen only for tax-benefitpurposes. If you're only allocating donations in December, planyour philanthropic initiatives for the next year and put some moneyquietly into a donor-advice fund in December to spend throughoutthe following year. Giving season shouldn't be the only time tomake a positive impact.

Be sensitive to charitable organizations' needs

Whatever organization you're donating to, make sure that you'regiving something that they actually need. A drastic counterexampleto this is how every American wanted to give blood after 9/11– andso many did, in fact, that blood drives were oversaturated. Bloodcan only last about 40 days, so, unfortunately, much of it went towaste.

Once your company has decided on a charitable organization, talkto the organization's executives about what they need and how youcan be of the best possible service. Look to build a long-lasting,meaningful relationship. Plan for a multi-year, multi-occasioneffort, not just a one-time donation. Doing so will maximize yourimpact, and you'll know that your contributions are not going towaste.

There's no need to overthink an alliterative catchphrase orstrategize with a giving-season marketing plan, nor is there a needto spend November prioritizing tax write-offs and benefits. Ifyou're giving authentically in the holiday spirit, you shouldn'tworry about the existing cynicism around corporate philanthropy,either.

People give during the holiday season because they want to livelife with a purpose. Align your company with a just, moral cause,and extend that feeling of purpose through the rest of the year.Knowing your company is engaged in genuine, charitable giving willmake the holidays that much brighter.

Gary Zyla is Chief Financial Officer atAssetMark, Inc. AssetMark, Inc. is an investment adviser registeredwith the Securities and Exchange Commission.