Katie Couric's Notebook: 12 Days of Giving

A recent study found that if you bought every gift in the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas," you'd pay $23,439 dollars, up 9 percent from last year.

Putting aside my initial questions -- Who knew you could buy Lords-a-Leaping? -- there's a broader one here. After spending all that cash, what would you have accomplished?

This year, rather than loading up on traditional presents, I plan to focus on gifts that give back. For the next 12 days, I invite you to join me on Twitter and Facebook as I share my ideas... and I hope you'll add your own.

Whether it's an embroidered scarf made by Afghan women in Kandahar for Global Goods Partners... or a cabernet from ONEHOPE Wine, which donates half its profits to charity... these are gifts with real meaning.

Your "true love" may not be able to afford five golden rings this year, but that's okay... The gift of giving is far more precious.

That's a page from my notebook.