Tips for a good exchange
Exchanges that go well usually have three things: a gift day with enough time to shop, a budget everyone is comfortable with, and specific hints. Ask each participant for at least three: their size, an author or series they like, something they've been meaning to buy. With good hints, givers get it right.
Running a Secret Santa from a distance?
The whole exchange works online: share the link by chat or email, everyone leaves hints in the app and sees their result on their personal page. Gift day can happen on a video call, in a shared chat, or with everyone on their own.
How to run it, case by case
Doing the draw
The whole exchange depends on the draw: nobody gets their own name, nobody else knows who got whom, and the result doesn't have to be redone. How to do it with paper slips or online.
The draw in your WhatsApp group
A WhatsApp group is good for agreeing on plans, not for drawing names: if you post the results there, everyone sees them. The fix is to share a draw link in the group and let each person see their result separately.
Draw with restrictions
Couples, siblings, last year's pair: some matches spoil the game. Set them before the draw and nobody has to redraw.
Writing your hints
“I like everything” is the hardest hint to shop from. A few concrete lines, one top pick and what to avoid make the difference.
Someone you don't know
A new colleague, a cousin's partner, a neighbour: drawing a stranger isn't bad luck, it's a small research project with good tools.
The gift hasn't arrived
Either you're waiting on yours or someone is waiting on you. In both cases the fix starts with a calm message and ends without anyone being named.
A themed exchange at the office
A theme makes an office exchange more fun, but if it's too narrow, half the team doesn't know what to buy or opts out. How to choose one, price it and draw names in good time.
Large groups
A group of eight organizes itself. A group of thirty needs deadlines, one place for information and a plan for dropouts. How to run it without chaos.
With kids
A family draw with kids needs different rules: a lower budget, a shorter wait, and parents who help without deciding for them.
Doing it every year
Running the exchange every year with the same group is what turns it into a tradition. What to keep, what to change, and how to avoid drawing the same person two years in a row.
Canceling an exchange
Dates that don't work, too few people, a difficult year: sometimes the exchange has to be called off. How to tell the group, what to do about gifts already bought, and how to delete the data.
Moving the date
Someone gets sick, the office party moves, a flight gets canceled. Changing the date of the exchange is easy if you do it in time, and the draw isn't lost.
If you can't make it
Illness, travel or a clashing date can keep you away on gift day. That doesn't take you out of the exchange: your gift can arrive without you, and yours can wait for you.
When someone drops out
Someone joins, gets their person, and then can't go on. You don't need to redo the whole draw: you only need to re-pair the two people affected.
Delivering from afar
When the group lives in different cities or countries, many gifts travel without their giver. How to send them on time, wrapped, and without spoiling the surprise.
