Question 1

How do I organize a Secret Santa with My Secret Santa?

Accepted Answer

It's simple, just like drawing names out of a hat. There are 4 main steps:

| Step 1 - Setting up the event Create your event on the Start a Secret Santa page and set:

The event date (the day you exchange gifts - prefilled with 12/24 during the Christmas season)
The rules of the game (optional: gift format, theme, DIY, etc.)
The min / max budget for gifts (optional)
The list of participants (name and email address - the email can be added later, but it's required to send the invitations). You can also share a sign-up link so everyone can sign up themselves.

Under "Display advanced options" (optional)

The number of draws per participant (from 1 to 5 - most of you will stick with 1: everyone gives 1 gift and receives 1)
The draw mode: 🤫 Secret until the big day (recommended), 👀 Revealed to everyone or 🎭 Double mystery (see What are the differences between the 3 draw modes?)

The draw creation page

Click Create my draw, then sign in (Google, Apple, LinkedIn, Facebook or email) to save it: no email is sent to participants without your go-ahead.

You l

Question 2

What are the differences between the 3 draw modes?

Accepted Answer

When you create your event, you can choose between 3 draw modes.

|| You choose the mode on the Start a Secret Santa page, under Display advanced options > Draw mode.

Choosing the draw mode in the advanced options

The chosen mode determines how the draw results are revealed to participants.

| 🤫 Secret until the big day (default and recommended mode - formerly "Mode A") Each participant makes their draw and only knows the person they're spoiling, in their participant area. From the big day onward, you can reveal all the results, in 2 stages:

to you alone, the organizer (visible in My events)
to all participants (visible in the participant area) - with an email notification if you like

| 👀 Revealed to everyone (formerly "Mode B") Participants see who's giving to whom as soon as the draws are opened in the participant area. No secrets, no insider trading possible!

| 🎭 Double mystery (experimental - formerly "Mode C") To spice up the game: even the Secret Santa doesn't know who they're spoiling! It's up to them to investigate using the wishlist and the anonymous messaging to get to know their target better. The name of the person they drew is revealed:

as soon as you reveal the results to all participants (level 2),
and automatically on the big day at the latest (so everyone can bring their gift!).

As in Secret until the big day, you can then rev

Question 3

How do I edit or resend a participant's invitation email?

Accepted Answer

After the invitations are sent, a participant sometimes doesn't receive their invitation email, or deletes it by mistake.

| 1 - Go to My events, then Manage this event: in the list of participants

1. Check and fix the participant's email address if needed, with the pencil icon next to their email
2. Resend the invitation with the Resend invitation button

The list also shows you who has opened their draw and written their wishlist.

An event's participants

| 2 - Still nothing? The email may be blocked by the recipient's spam filter

Some spam filters put My Secret Santa emails (based on very different criteria) in the Spam / Promotions / Updates folders. Ask the recipient to check, then resend the email if needed.
Other spam filters, rarer and very strict, require a captcha check (e.g. Mailinblack, SpamEnMoins): in that case, ask for the address confirmation#at#my-secret-santa.org to be added to the allowlist.
Finally, a very small number of company email systems block My Secret Santa emails entirely. If so, send us your domain name (the part after the @): we can sometimes turn on a special setup to get around the block.

| 3 - Last resort: send the access link yourself The Download the participant list (Excel) link, below the list, gives you each participant's personal link, which you can send them through any channel you like (without opening it yourself

Question 4

How do I set exclusion rules between participants?

Accepted Answer

Before sending the invitations, you can set exclusion rules between participants. Just click Manage groups & exclusions from the event management page.

The Manage groups & exclusions button

It's really handy for rules like "no drawing your partner", "no drawing your brothers and sisters", "no drawing someone from your own team", etc.

| How does it work?

1 - Assign a group to participants: members of the same group can't draw each other (the quickest way)
2 - Set individual exclusions (Edit button on a participant's row) to stop one participant from drawing another (can be combined with groups)

Don't forget to click Save.

Manage groups and exclusions

| Good to know

Nobody can ever draw themselves (that wouldn't be much fun!).
If A draws B, the system tries to avoid B drawing A.
Exclusions aren't visible to participants (and that doesn't make cheating possible either!)

| What about when you duplicate an event? When you duplicate an event (last year's, for example), you have 2 options:

Option 1: keep the exclusions from the previous draw
Option 2: add the results of the previous draws as exclusions (so nobody gets the same person again). This option is only available if the duplicated event is over AND you've revealed the results at least at level 1.

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Question 5

How do I register participants efficiently or share the sign-up link?

Accepted Answer

Your draw is going to bring a lot of people together (say 10-20 people or more)? You have 2 options:

| Option 1 - Register the participants yourself

Gather the list of first names / last names and email addresses, then enter them on the draw creation page (or import a CSV file if there are lots of them).
Email addresses can be added later: they're only required when you send the invitations.

|| Note 1: the same email address can be used for several participants (an email shared by a couple, someone without an email, etc.).

|| Note 2: here's a CSV file template. Edit it, then copy and paste its content into the import area of the Start a Secret Santa page.

| Option 2 - Share a sign-up link (WhatsApp, email, social media)

Let participants sign up themselves through a sign-up page dedicated to your event. You get the link right after creating the event.
Each person enters their name and signs in with one click (Google, Apple, LinkedIn, Facebook) or with their email.

|| Note 1: as long as the invitations haven't been sent, you stay in control to edit the sign-ups and check that everyone is registered.

|| Note 2: once the invitations are sent, the list is locked (you can still add or remove a participant, with a few restricti

Question 6

How do I remove a participant after the draw has been confirmed?

Accepted Answer

Your event is underway and, oh no, a participant drops out! Don't panic!

Go to My events, click Manage this event, then Remove a participant.

| Choose the participant to remove. There are 2 possible situations:

The participant has already been drawn by another participant: the person who drew them immediately receives a new invitation by email to draw again, explaining the situation (this is shown in the list).
The participant hasn't been drawn yet: the ideal situation, they're removed with no visible impact on the others.

|| In some cases, removing a participant isn't possible:

if there are 3 participants or fewer left who haven't drawn yet;
if the event has 2 or more draws per participant;
if the participant is in a mutual draw (they drew the person who drew them) - they then appear grayed out in the list.

Remove a participant

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