In Ecuador it's called amigo secreto. December has several big dates: the novena del Niño from the 16th to the 24th, Christmas Eve, and the burning of the año viejo on the 31st. Offices usually exchange at their year-end dinner; families on the 24th.
Organizing it in Ecuador
The thirteenth-month salary
The Labor Code requires the thirteenth-month salary to be paid by December 24. Many companies pay it earlier, but if gift day is mid-month, not everyone will have it yet: set a limit people can afford without it.
At the office, the year-end dinner
Many companies in Quito and Guayaquil close the year with a dinner or lunch, and that's the natural gift day. Draw in late November or early December, so there are two weeks to shop.
Families, on Christmas Eve
Families open gifts on the night of the 24th, after the novena del Niño and dinner. The 31st is for burning the año viejo effigies, so it's best not to mix the two dates.
With family abroad
If some of the family lives in Spain or the US, the dollar makes it easy to set one limit for everyone. To get the gift there, it's simplest for whoever lives abroad to order from an online shop that delivers in Ecuador.
Set up your amigo secreto
No account, nothing to install, free. Enter the names, the limit in dollars and the date, share one link, and each person sees only who they drew.
