This season of giving often brings a focus on corporate philanthropy — on giving. But it’s hard to do well. If you wanted to design a corporate philanthropy program to have minimum impact, what would you do? Give out lots of grants in amounts too small to make a real difference. Back pet charities, not those with a strong track record. Talk about “results” without measuring them. Sadly, this low-impact approach to corporate philanthropy is too common. No wonder that a 2008 McKinsey survey found that only 20% of senior executives believe that their corporate philanthropy is effective in achieving social goals.