The basic rules
- Everyone who wants to play joins the group. Taking part should always be a choice.
- Draw names. Each person is matched with one other person, and nobody gets themselves.
- Agree on a budget and a date. Pick one amount, and one date for the gift exchange.
- Buy one gift for your person and keep it secret. Your match is yours alone to know.
- Exchange gifts. Some groups reveal who gave what, others keep the givers a mystery.
Rules worth agreeing on up front
- The budget. Say it in one number and name the currency. Decide whether shipping counts.
- Surprise or wishlist. Choose whether people buy something from the giftee's wishlist or go with a surprise.
- Pairs who shouldn't match. Couples and flatmates usually are excluded from each other's draw.
- A buying deadline. A date a week or so before the exchange stops last-minute stress.
- Late joiners. If someone joins after the draw, redraw for everyone before any gifts are bought. It is the simplest fair fix.
- Drop-outs. Decide in advance what happens if someone leaves, so nobody is stuck holding a gift for a person who is gone.
Office Secret Santa rules
- Make it voluntary, and never let it feel like pressure to spend.
- Keep the budget modest so that nobody feels uncomfortable about money.
- Keep gifts workplace-appropriate, and think about dietary needs, beliefs and personal tastes.
- Call it a "holiday gift exchange" if your team celebrates different holidays.
Running Secret Santa remotely
- Give the group a buying deadline that leaves time for delivery, especially across borders.
- Include shipping in the budget, and agree on one currency.
- Never post home addresses in the group chat. Ask each person to send theirs privately to their Santa, or to the organizer.
- Send each person's match privately, never in the group chat. Private links, like the ones our generator creates, make that easy.
Run it with plzly
The free Secret Santa generator draws names in your browser and gives each person a private link, with no sign-up. Then ask everyone to make a wishlist, so each Santa can claim a gift in secret and nobody buys the same thing twice.