"OH NO, IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME AGAIN. NOT that you don't love the essential nature of the celebration. But Christmas also means trying to figure out what to do about giving gifts or throwing parties for your customers, clients and staff. There's always that niggling feeling that whatever you do is not quite right -- too extravagant, or too stingy. You're not alone; Christmas gift-giving has undergone some big changes over the last few decades.

Remember when expensive, catered Christmas parties were the norm? When invitations to in-, or out-of-office parties were plentiful? When alcohol was the most common corporate gift? These things are still happening, but the scale is changing, as is the essence of giving.

Over the past two years Vancouver caterer Myrna Casino has noticed that her regular clients are opting to stage ""less-extravagant"" events, which are more often for staff than for clients, and that they're ""more price-conscious"" in their requests. And while alcohol still features in gift-giving, according to gourmet food specialist Alan Drinkwater of Drinkwater & Co. it's lower down the corporate shopping list than ever before. If parties are fewer and less extravagant, and alcohol less popular, what is happening on the corporate gift-giving scene?

If you want to give gifts and have the resources, as well as someone in your business with creative flair, go for impact; that's a gift in itself. For example, find something unusual, wrap it exquisitely -- or for even more impact, outrageously -- and courier it. If that creative spark is missing or you don't have time to spend choosing unusual gifts, try a gift basket. Trend spotter Faith Popcorn's challenge to ""twist the familiar"" has resulted in an explosion in the creative side of this business.

Gift baskets used to feature upscale canned or packaged food items, fruit and/or cheese. These baskets are still popular. But today's educated consumer palates can distinguish between mediocre and truly superior food and beverage items, for example in coffee, cookies, chocolates, pasta, bread, olive oil; the list goes on. This has spurred the gift basket business to get more creative, to dare to be different.

Today's food gift baskets are more likely to feature gourmet or somewhat trendy food and beverage items, fresh, dried, or preserved, but rarely canned. They can be customized according to budget, personal and/or corporate preferences, as well as cultural specifics. And while you may think one gift basket is the same as the next, the competitive spirit is bringing out more variations. Rather than focus on food, for example, Lise Watson of The Gift Basket has developed a niche for herself by specializing in color-themed baskets -- only black and white items, for example.

Many businesses do not send gifts at all. But they will send cards to clients or make cash donations to favorite charities. (Food remains one of the favorite non-cash charitable donations, either to the Food Bank or to individual families.) More and more companies are combining the two by purchasing Christmas cards from charitable organizations. The fundraising committees, which increasingly are recognizing the fundraising potential in Christmas cards, are going all out to secure corporate support at a time when charity is top of mind.

Illustrative of the potential is Vancouver's Ronald McDonald House. Bruce Ambrose, president, says the addition of Christmas cards to the fundraising portfolio in 1992 resulted in sales of $32,000. Motivated by their success, volunteers worked even harder last year, and sales increased by roughly 71 per cent to $55,000. At the time of writing in mid-October, Ambrose says ambitious projections for 1994 will be met (or maybe even exceeded).

While the urge to give is motivated by Christmas, ethnic and cultural considerations increasingly influence cards' printed greetings. While the holiday is a traditional Christian holiday, others in our cultural mosaic also enjoy and celebrate the season. Thus, the Christmas theme of the cards may be evident graphically, but 'Merry Christmas', which speaks only to those of Christian faith, is disappearing, replaced by 'Happy Holidays' or 'Seasons Greetings'.

Today, business must get value from every dollar spent; the payback from a straight cash donation or the purchase of cards or other items from a charity is gained with the tax receipt offered by registered charities. So is this kind of giving altruism or just good PR and a tax receipt? does it matter? It seems to me that it's a win-win scenario for all.

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