Redoing the whole draw because one person left is the usual reaction, and rarely the best one. It makes everyone start over, even people who already bought a gift.
Re-pairing only the affected people solves the problem without touching anyone else.
What to do when someone drops out
Remove the person instead of redrawing
Remove the person from your organizer page, or let them leave from their own page. Whoever was giving to them gets their person instead.
If the two had drawn each other, or a pair you kept apart is in the way, Cuchumbo changes one more envelope, one nobody has opened yet whenever it can. It works the same with eight participants or forty.
No need to tell the whole group
The people affected get an email and see their new person on their page. There's no need to announce it to the whole group; if anyone asks, just confirm the exchange is still on.
Let them keep the gift they bought
If the person who left had already bought a gift, let them keep it or give it away outside the exchange. Asking them to ship it to someone else complicates an exit that's already awkward for them.
When to redo the whole draw
If several people leave at once, or the group is so small that one dropout changes nearly every pair, it's simpler to draw again from scratch. Tell the group the old results no longer count before you do.
Fix the draw without redoing it
On your organizer page, open “Remove” next to the person and confirm. Whoever was giving to them gets their person instead, so usually only one envelope changes, and Cuchumbo tells the people affected without showing you who gives to whom.
