{"id":11759,"date":"2020-01-14T08:00:59","date_gmt":"2020-01-14T13:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"\/blog\/?p=11759"},"modified":"2023-02-10T13:55:46","modified_gmt":"2023-02-10T18:55:46","slug":"tips-for-being-the-secret-santa-for-someone-you-dont-know-elf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elfster.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/14\/tips-for-being-the-secret-santa-for-someone-you-dont-know-elf\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips for Being the Secret Santa for Someone You Don’t Know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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My wife and I first started dating in early July. But by Christmas we were already at the \u201clet\u2019s see each other\u2019s family!\u201d stage of things (cue: awwww<\/em>). When she joined my family\u2019s Secret Santa game and got my cousin Chuck, I was super excited. Chuck is great! Of course, she asked what to me was a surprising question: \u201cWho, exactly, is Chuck?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, I had forgotten that she didn\u2019t know everyone in my family. But that brings up a really interesting issue for a Secret Santa game. What happens when you\u2019re the Secret Santa for someone you don\u2019t really know?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It happens more often than you might think. You might be new to a family, you might be participating in an office Secret Santa<\/a> in a bigger company, or maybe you\u2019re in a gift exchange with a big, extended group of friends<\/a>. Either way, if you\u2019re in a Secret Santa with people you don\u2019t know, or are organizing one where that might happen, there are ways to make it easier.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to be the Secret Santa for Someone You Don\u2019t Know<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now, chances are that your giftee made a wish list, so you already know a little about what they want. But that doesn\u2019t help you narrow it down, nor does it help you pick the right present. So, here are a few ways to go about it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask People Who Know Them<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Say you\u2019re at work, and you get someone from a department that isn\u2019t yours. You can ask people in that department what they\u2019d like. You can do the same with friends and family.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\u2026 you also might not know the other people in the department. You might not know who to ask. And asking around can be sort of awkward. Not to mention that asking around makes it more likely that someone will accidentally reveal who you\u2019re Secret Santa-ing for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anonymous Messaging<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There are two ways to do anonymous messaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Leave secret notes asking questions and telling them to drop their answers off at a special place where you can sneakily pick them up. <\/li>
  2. Literally not that, goodness gracious. Anything else! <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    That\u2019s where the organizer comes in. Using an online Secret Santa generator<\/a> that allows users to ask anonymous questions is a great way to connect people. Messaging can be really straightforward, like, \u201cWhat color shirt do you want?\u201d or \u201cHow tall is a \u2018life size cutout of Baby Yoda?\u2019\u201d It helps you get more info so you aren\u2019t guessing randomly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Asking Fun Questions to Get to Know Someone<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    If you have this anonymous messaging feature, you can ask questions that are a little more fun, too. You can come up with these on your own, or the organizer can have a list that everyone has to answer. Like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n