Free tool
Secret Santa generator.
Type everyone's names, draw, and send each person their own private link: it shows who they're buying for and nobody else's pick. No emails, no accounts, and it works for a team spread across countries. Below it: how to run Secret Santa online, the rules, and gift ideas for colleagues.
Updated
How to do Secret Santa online
- Collect the names. Ask who wants to take part. Joining should be optional at work: a Secret Santa people are pushed into isn't much fun for anyone.
- Set a budget and a date. One number, said up front, so nobody spends three times as much as the person buying for them. The date is when the gifts are opened.
- Draw the names. Type the names above and draw. Everyone gets someone, and nobody gets themselves.
- Send the links. Send each person their own link in a direct message or email. The organiser can take part too: you see the links, not who drew whom.
- Open the gifts together. On a video call or at the party, one at a time, with everyone guessing who their Secret Santa was.
Secret Santa with a remote team
When the team works from different cities, or different countries, the gifts have to travel. The simplest way is digital gifts: a gift card, an e-book, a month of a streaming service, a donation in the person's name. If people would rather send something real, the organiser can collect home addresses privately and pass each one only to the person who needs it, or everyone can order from a shop that delivers in each country.
Open the gifts together on a call, ideally as part of an end-of-year party. Our virtual holiday party ideas have an agenda and games to go around it.
Secret Santa rules
- Stick to the budget. Under is fine, over is awkward. The budget is the point: a small gift, chosen with care.
- Keep it secret. Don't tell anyone who you drew until the gifts are opened, and don't ask others who they got.
- Keep it suitable for work. Nothing personal, nothing that could embarrass someone in front of colleagues.
- Share a wish. If people add a short wish to the team chat, such as "I'd love a good book", nobody has to guess.
- Make it optional. Some people don't celebrate, or don't want to. They're still welcome at the party.
Secret Santa gift ideas for colleagues
Ideas that travel well and suit most budgets:
- 1.
Coffee or tea
Under $20
A bag from a good local roaster, or a tea sampler.
- 2.
A book
Under $20
Something you loved this year, with a note saying why.
- 3.
A desk plant
Under $25
Small, hard to kill, and nice to look at during calls.
- 4.
A gift card
Any budget
For a bookshop, a café chain or food delivery where they live.
- 5.
A nice notebook
Under $20
Useful for anyone who still writes things down.
- 6.
A month of something
Under $15
A music, audiobook or streaming subscription, sent as a gift code.
- 7.
A puzzle or game
Under $25
Something for the evenings, or for the whole family.
- 8.
Something from your city
Under $20
Local sweets or a small thing only your place makes. Remote teams love these.