What is a Secret Santa Gift Exchange?
One of the more popular holiday games, Secret Santa (also known as Kris Kringle in some circles) is a fun and easy way for a group of friends, family members or co-workers to exchange gifts. A Secret Santa gift exchange can take place at a party or with participants all over the world!
The basic concept of the Secret Santa game is simple. All of the participants’ names are placed into a hat, box, etc. and mixed up. Each person then chooses one name from the box, but doesn’t tell anyone which name was picked. He/she is now responsible for buying a gift for the person selected.
When the Secret Santa wraps his/her gift, he/she should label it with the recipient’s name but doesn’t indicate whom the present is from. (Remember, most of the fun is in the secrecy.)
All the gifts are then placed in a general area for opening at a designated time. When the gift-giving time arrives, each recipient finds his/her gift and must guess who their Secret Santa is. If they can’t guess, their Secret Santa eventually confesses.
With the SecretSanta.com service, organizing and managing a Secret Santa gift exchange is now easier and much more fun. Using SecretSanta.com, a gift exchange administrator is able to:
- Send fun email invitations to a group of friends, family or coworkers, inviting them to participate in a Secret Santa gift exchange.
- Enter all of the participants’ names in a virtual “hat.” The system, using the Secret Santa Generator, randomizes all of the names and selects each participant’s gift recipient for him/her.
- Run a gift exchange without all of the participants being in one place. All SecretSanta.com requires is that you enter all the participants’ email addresses and their gift recipients are sent out automatically.
- Create a customized Secret Santa Gift Exchange page, which enables all participants to post RSVP responses and comments, as well as wish lists.
- Create exclusions for each gift exchange to ensure that certain participants are not matched. (For example, Jack should not be Jane’s Secret Santa.)
- Manage a Secret Santa gift exchange year after year, guaranteeing that participants do not get the same Secret Santa two years in a row.
Best of all – It’s absolutely FREE!
Creating a Gift Exchange Event
SecretSanta.com gift exchanges are now powered by the ElfsterSecret Santa Generator!To start your Gift Exchange, just share a few details with our Secret Santa Generator and our elves will do the rest!Registration is fast, easy, and free.
Using the Secret Santa Generator:
- Sign into your account, or if you are already in your account, click on Start A Gift Exchange and follow the step-by-step instructions in the Secret Santa Generator wizard.
- Create a title for your gift exchange in the Gift Exchange Name box. (i.e. John Doe’s 3rd Annual White Elephant or XYZ Corp.’s 2004 White Elephant).
- Enter the date your gift exchange event will take place and the deadline date for friends to RSVP. Names will be drawn on the day after the date you select as your deadline to RSVP.
- You will be asked a few more questions about your gift exchange, like whether or not you will be participating (or just organizing) and how gifts will be exchanged. If gifts will be exchanged at a party, provide a location (Will it be around the family Christmas tree or in the lunchroom in the workplace?)
TIP: Want to make a simple old Secret Santa more interesting? Assign the game a theme (i.e. Musical, Gourmet Foods, Fashion). Not only does it add a fun twist to the game, but it can also help out someone who has no idea what to buy for his or her chosen person.
- Select a budget for your gifts. Remember, exchanging gifts with family members might involve a higher price range than one that takes place in an office environment. It isn’t the amount of money spent that makes a gift a hit — the more creative the gift the better.
- Add a description in the“Anything else you want to tell everyone?” section. This area will provide participants with any details about the event – e.g. party theme, game rules, etc. These details will be found on the “Gift Exchange” page for participants to view at any time.
- Now it’s time to invite friends and family. There are several options to create your list of invitees for the event, including email or by posting a link to share on Facebook or Twitter.
- Once invitations have been sent, participants will be able to RSVP to your gift exchange and get started on Elfster, too.
- To access your new gift exchange, click on the Gift Exchanges tab at the top of your homepage.
Way to go! You have just created a Secret Santa Gift Exchange!
Participating in a Gift Echange Event
SecretSanta.com gift exchanges are now powered by theElfsterSecret Santa Generator!There are two ways to join a gift exchange — by email invitation or using a link shared by the organizer:
Invitation Email:The invitation email lets you know you have been invited to join in a gift exchange event and who invited you. Also included is a brief message from the organizer of the event and details for the gift exchange.
To view more details about the gift exchange event and to reply to the invitation, just click to RSVP. You may thenregister your Elfster accountor log in to an existing account.
Invitation Link:If an organizer has posted an invitation link on a social media page or by shared in an email they generate, click on the link to see more details about the exchange, RSVP andregisteror log in to an existing account.
As a registered member ofElfster,you can manage all of your gift exchange events by clicking on the Gift Exchanges tab on the top of your homepage, or create a Wish List to share your wishes with your exchange group.
Gift Exchange Page:As a participant the gift exchange page includes the following:
- Event information: All the event information (type of gift exchange, time, date, location, price range, etc.)
- Participants: View who is participating, who is not and who is undecided.
- Activity: On this page, you may chat with your group to send along any fun, interesting or informative comments, which may be made anonymously for an added twist, view wishes made by members of the group and see Secret Q&A activity for other participants.
- Gallery:Once names have been drawn you can come back here to see thank you messages and gift pictures that have been shared with the group.
Gift Recipient Email:The gift recipient email notification lets you know whom you will be buying a gift for this year. Included in this email is a link to the Gift Exchange page to see who you have drawn.
Once who you know who you have drawn, you may ask them check out their wish list, see what they like
and ask them secret questions by clicking on their name on the participants list.
Be Sure to Create a Wish List:The Wish Lists page allows you to enter your gift wish list, which can be viewed by your Secret Santa and other participants in your exchange. Gifts may be added by Wishing for any item found on our Shop pages, copying the URL for an item from any website, or by using the Text option to write in your own wish.
TIP: Submitting wish lists is a great way to make sure all the participants receive a gift they will enjoy as well as assisting the Secret Santas in the gift buying process.
Before you start planning a Secret Santa Gift Exchange of your own, you may want to consider these factors:
Guidelines:The rules and terms of your Secret Santa game should be clearly drawn to insure a smooth gift exchange.
Secrecy:This is the probably the most enjoyable part of the game. Not knowing who your Secret Santa is adds to the intrigue and excitement. Keep the guessing games going in the time before the exchange.
Happy Gifting!
Managing a Gift Exchange Event
SecretSanta.com gift exchanges are now powered by the Elfster Secret Santa Generator! As a registered member ofElfster, you can manage all of your gift exchange events listed on your Gift Exchanges page, which is accessible by clicking on the Gift Exchanges tab on the top of your homepage.Gift Exchange Event management can only be done by the gift exchange Organizer (the person who created the gift exchange) or any of their assigned Assistants.
When you log into your account, you will automatically be brought to your homepage. Your Elfster homepage is where you will find the following information:
- User profile information – all of your registration information, which can be edited by clicking on your Profile image.
- Current gift exchange event information – listing all of your gift exchange events that are still taking place or have recently ended (whether you are an administrator or participant).
- Previous gift exchange event information – listing all of your gift exchange events for previous years (whether you were an administrator or a participant).
To manage or view any one of the current gift exchanges, just click on the Gift Exchange box on your homepage and this will take you to the Gift Exchange Event page.
Managing A Secret Santa Gift Exchange Event:
A Secret Santa gift exchange is a fun way to exchange gifts with friends in person or across the miles! Our Secret Santa Generator will randomly assign names that participants will be sending a gift to. In a Secret Santa style gift exchange, participants will not draw the same person who drew them. In a Meet and Gift style gift exchange, each person will be paired with the same person who drew them.
As the organizer of your exchange, you will see options only available to you and any assistants you assign to help you manage your exchange. To pick an Assistant, click on that option below your name on your exchange page. You can select another participant from a drop down menu.
These options are shown to Organizers and Assistants as tabs at the top of your gift exchange page as follows:
Activity— view activity related to the exchange, including messages to the group, wishing activity, etc.
Edit— change gift exchange title, description, dates, and gift exchange details.
Invite— add more participants to your gift exchange by email, or post a sign up link to social media pages. You may invite participants at any time, however, if names have been drawn, new participants will have to be added as latecomers.
Participants— view list of participants and their status in the exchange, with option to Accept for those people who have not done that, as well as the option to set Draw Restrictions in exchanges when names will be drawn. Organizer will also see the option to expand the user information box for any participant to Send Message, Decline, Remove, Send Gift Exchange Link and Assign.
Privacy + Options— set options to protect the privacy of participants by limiting messaging, contact information, birthday alerts to the members of the group, as well as email notifications for exchange related information.
Draw Restrictions— set Draw Restrictions to prevent participants from drawing certain others (i.e., spouses, siblings, etc.)
Have Some Secret Santa Fun:
There are plenty of awesome features right on your exchange page to encourage your group to get into the gifting spirit!
On your gift exchange page, you will be able toShare Something With The Groupto post a message to the Activity Feed for the gift exchange, and participants will be notified by email to make sure everyone gets the news!
Organizers also have the option toPost A Pollto allow the group to vote on options related to the exchange (like should we serve cake or cookies for dessert at the party?)
Remind your participants to make some wishes as theyDiscover Great Giftsto share ideas for their perfect gift!
Happy Elfing!
gift exchange
One of the more popular holiday games, Secret Santa (also known as Kris Kringle in some circles) is a fun and easy way for a group of friends, family members or co-workers to exchange gifts.
MORE INFO
gift exchange
Another gift exchange is a fun game called Yankee Swap. Suitable for small to large groups, the game, sometimes going by Yankee Doodle, adds an element of excitement and humor to traditional gift giving.
MORE INFO
gift exchange
White Elephant is a gift exchange game that is very similar in style to the Yankee Swap gift exchange, although the emphasis is to “steal” gifts from others rather than swap them.
MORE INFO
Secret Santa is a popular holiday game that allows a group of friends, family members, or co-workers to exchange gifts. The basic concept of Secret Santa is that all participants' names are placed into a hat or box and mixed up. Each person then chooses one name without revealing it to anyone else. The person is responsible for buying a gift for the selected individual. The gifts are wrapped and labeled with the recipient's name, but the identity of the gift-giver remains a secret until the gift is opened. The game adds an element of surprise and excitement as participants try to guess who their Secret Santa is. If they can't guess, the Secret Santa eventually confesses [[1]].
SecretSanta.com is a service that helps organize and manage Secret Santa gift exchanges. It offers features such as sending fun email invitations to participants, randomizing the names and selecting gift recipients, creating a customized Secret Santa Gift Exchange page for participants to post RSVP responses and wish lists, setting exclusions to ensure certain participants are not matched, and managing gift exchanges year after year to avoid repeating the same Secret Santa [[1]].
To create a Secret Santa Gift Exchange using SecretSanta.com, the organizer needs to sign into their account or create a new one. They can then start a gift exchange using the Secret Santa Generator wizard. The organizer provides a title for the gift exchange, selects the date and deadline for RSVPs, specifies how gifts will be exchanged (e.g., at a party), sets a budget for the gifts, and adds any additional details about the event. Once the invitations are sent, participants can RSVP and join the gift exchange. The organizer can manage the event through their account, view participant information, and access the gift exchange page [[1]].
Participants can join a gift exchange either through an invitation email or by using a link shared by the organizer. The invitation email provides details about the gift exchange event and includes a link to RSVP. Participants can register or log in to their Elfster account to view more information about the event and reply to the invitation. They can also join a gift exchange by clicking on an invitation link shared on social media or through email. Once participants have joined, they can manage their gift exchange events, view event information, chat with the group, see wish lists, and participate in Secret Q&A activities [[1]].
Managing a gift exchange event on SecretSanta.com is done through the Elfster Secret Santa Generator. The organizer or assigned assistants can manage the event by logging into their account and accessing the Gift Exchanges page. From there, they can view and edit event information, invite more participants, manage participant lists, set privacy options, and set draw restrictions to prevent certain participants from being matched. The organizer can also use features like posting messages to the activity feed, creating polls for the group, and reminding participants to make wishes for their gifts [[1]].
In addition to Secret Santa, there are other gift exchange games that can be played during the holidays. One example is Yankee Swap, which adds an element of excitement and humor to traditional gift giving. Another game is White Elephant, where participants have the option to "steal" gifts from others rather than simply swapping them [[2]] [[3]].
I hope this information helps you understand what a Secret Santa gift exchange is and how it can be organized and managed using SecretSanta.com. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask!
