I love Christmas. It can't start too soon each year for me. I love everything about it, which means that I really enjoy the drama and anticipation that has now built around the release of some retailer's Christmas adverts.

We all now know that Christmas is on its way when John Lewis releases another heart-warming story of Christmas cheer but one of the things I have particularly loved this year is how a charity tie-up seems to be developing as an obligatory part of retailers' Christmas promotions. Sainsbury's has two cause-related marketing products, linked to its advert, that raise money for  Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity; John Lewis has partnered with The Wildlife Trusts and even discount retailers, like Aldi, are tying a charity element into their Christmas marketing, with the soft toy version of "Kevin the Carrot" available to purchase from Aldi stores with 100% of the profits going to Barnardo's.

It's fantastic to see charity donations becoming integrated into marketing. It shows that customers expect companies to be giving something back at this time of year. However I can't help but wonder how long this support will last? Is John Lewis going to continue to support The Wildlife Trusts after we've polished off our mince pies and forgotten about Buster the Boxer? Or are they just "using" these charity connections where it provides a competitive advantage? Do they have any obligation to continue their support beyond this?

Charities seek sustainable funding wherever possible. We want to have reliable, regular income so that we can plan for the future. Having a "bumper year" where we get a sudden boost of income from a company can be great but it doesn't allow charities to develop long-term plans.

Personally, I see nothing wrong with companies using their relationships with charities for their own competitive advantage. But I do see something wrong with companies forming partnerships with charities that are not mutually beneficial. So, if a company wants a charitable partnership, I question whether something that lasts as long as the chocolate in my advent calendar is ethical or whether companies should commit to a relationship that provides sustainable funding for the lifetime of a project that they're supporting.

Perhaps I'm not giving charities enough credit for their ability to plan finances around short-term cash injections. I'm undecided. What I do know is that I want the trend of a charitable donation being an expectation of large companies to continue for as long as possible...and ideally I want this expectation to spread to the rest of the year too. Charity should be for life, not just for Christmas.