Secret Santa questionnaire

The five questions

Copy these into your group chat or mail. Short answers are fine.

1. Are you in? Joining is a choice, so ask first.

2. What are you into? Pick one: cooking, tech, outdoors, games, fitness, travel, cozy things, books, science, music, gardening, or surprise me.

3. What budget suits you? Under $25, $25 to $50, $50 to $100, or over $100.

4. Who must you not draw? A partner, say. Pairs can stay apart.

5. Can you make the exchange day? Name the day in your message.

How to use the answers

1. Send the five questions above to your group.
2. Add each name as the answers come back.
3. Set one interest per person, from their answer.
4. Mark pairs who must not draw each other.
5. Draw the names in your browser.
6. Send each person their own private link.

Adding names in bulk? One person per line works.

Add an interest after a comma. Like this: Maria, cooking.

Names and interests never leave your browser.

What each answer does

Interest shapes the picks. Six ideas in the link fit it.

Budget answers set one band. Pick the lowest easy one. How to pick it.

Pairs stay apart. Marked pairs never draw each other.

The exchange day is yours. This site holds no date for you.

What this site does not do

This site has no questionnaire form.

It sends no questions and collects no answers.

You ask in the chat your group already uses.

Answers come back to you, never to this site.

The draw carries one interest per person, nothing more.

Keep planning

Secret Santa gift ideas: real picks from the list of 212.

Secret Santa questionnaire: five questions to send first.

Virtual Secret Santa: the whole swap, far apart.

Secret Santa at work: one draw for the whole team.

How much to spend on Secret Santa: the four budgets, compared.

White elephant vs Secret Santa: two games, one clear winner per group.

How Secret Santa works: the game in four steps.

How to run a Secret Santa: the organiser's short list.

Secret Santa rules: the classic rules, plus the enforced ones.

Secret Santa for large groups: one draw for up to 30 people.

Common questions

Does this site collect the answers?

No. This site has no questionnaire form, and it collects nothing. You send the questions in your own chat or mail, and answers come back to you.

Which answer matters most?

The interest answer. Set it on that person's row, and their Santa's private link carries six gift ideas picked for it, inside the budget.

What if an answer names something off the list?

Pick the closest of the eleven interests, or pick surprise me. The draw knows cooking, tech, outdoors, games, fitness, travel, cozy things, books, science, music, and gardening.

When should I send the questionnaire?

Before the draw. Send it with your budget and gift exchange day, so nobody has to guess either one later.