How it works
- Add the names of everyone taking part, with gift ideas if you like. Each Santa sees the ideas of the person they draw.
- Set the rules: the budget, the date of the exchange, and who must not draw whom, such as couples or people living together.
- Draw names, then send each person their own link by WhatsApp, text or email, or print the slips.
The draw happens in your browser. Each link carries its own result, scrambled so the name is not visible in the address, and opens a card that reveals who to buy for. The organizer never has to see the matches, so they can take part too.
Printable Secret Santa slips
Prefer to hand out paper? Each slip has three parts: the person's name on top, their match in the middle and a striped flap below. Fold the flap up, then fold it behind the name: only the name shows, and the stripes hide the match even when held up to a light.
Secret Santa rules that keep it fun
- Set a budget everyone is comfortable with, and say whether it is a maximum or a target.
- Share gift ideas or a wish list so nobody gets stuck.
- Keep couples apart with an exclusion, and turn on "No two people give to each other" so the draw feels like a real surprise.
- Pick the exchange date early, especially for office parties, and put it in the event details.
Secret Santa or White Elephant?
In Secret Santa, everyone draws one person in advance and buys a gift for them. In a White Elephant (or Yankee Swap) exchange, everyone brings one wrapped gift for the pile. Players draw numbers; the first opens a gift, and each next player either opens a new gift or steals one already opened. Most groups limit how many times a gift can be stolen. Secret Santa works best when people know each other; White Elephant needs no draw and suits big or mixed groups.