How to play Secret Santa in a company with 100+ employees
Playing a corporate Secret Santa can boost morale, strengthen workplace ties, and relieve employees' year-end stress. In this guide, we will explain how to organize a Secret Santa in a large company and ensure that everything runs smoothly.
Secret Santa is a beloved tradition in many companies. It brings even remote employees closer and helps everyone experience the joy of giving and have fun while guessing their gift-giver. If you plan to run the Secret Santa exchange in a company with 100+ employees, this article will show you how to organize everything and avoid pitfalls.
Why organize a corporate Secret Santa this year?
Secret Santa is a fun way to celebrate the holiday season. Moreover, it is a perfect team-building activity, as the employees bring personalized gifts and can do something nice for each other. Here are some more advantages of organizing a gift exchange for the team:
- Foster workplace connections –interacting and preparing Christmas gifts for each other promotes interaction in teams. It helps improve teamwork and strengthens workplace ties, which means better productivity.
- Relieve stress – A great Christmas party puts everyone in the holiday mood and helps relieve the year-end tension at work and improve workplace satisfaction.
- Build employer brand – Planning gift exchange games and other team-building activities fosters respect and attention to each other in the team. As a result, the company earns a reputation as a great place to work.
96% of people who attended the Christmas party are less likely to resign the next year.
Two ways to organize a company-wide Secret Santa
When planning the Secret Santa exchange in a large company with multiple departments, there are two ways to play:
- Secret Santa by departments. The name speaks for itself – each department or office runs its own Secret Santa exchange. This approach has its advantages: as people know each other well, they can get thoughtful gifts for their assigned coworkers. Plus, you can strengthen ties within the team and set everyone up for success in the next year.
- Company-wide Secret Santa. If you’re up for the adventure, this option is the perfect choice! Organize a global gift exchange across all departments or offices in your organization. Exchange gifts in person or send them by mail if your offices are in different cities. Such a game will connect everyone in the team, from interns to managers, and foster cross-departmental cooperation.
Our MySanta game organizer will help you handle both scenarios. You can create multiple games for different departments or one global gift exchange:
- Draw names and assign players to each other. People will see in their profile to whom they need to buy a gift.
- Unlimited players. 100 and even 1,000 players are not a problem! In a large corporation, drawing names from the hat is next to impossible. In our app, you can assign players to each other in one click, and the draw results are saved.
- Set exceptions. If some coworkers don’t get along with each other, you can exclude them from giving to each other to avoid tension.
- Create wishlists. Each player can create a personal wishlist with links to the desired gifts within the agreed budget. Thus, people can buy good presents even for coworkers they don’t know well.
- Track gifts. The game organizer (usually an HR manager) can see who bought a present and who hasn’t, thus ensuring that each participant gets a Christmas gift.
The online generator stores players’ information in one place, and saves the results of the draw and the gift information. As a game organizer, you can keep track of everything in the app, which is invaluable when you have hundreds of participants.
How to play Secret Santa in a large corporation step by step
Here is how to organize a great Secret Santa exchange in your organization:
Invite participants
The first step to organizing the corporate gift exchange is inviting participants. Send the email to everyone in the company, or distribute the message in team chats on Slack.
Invite everyone early (at least in November) so that everyone has time to buy presents and prepare for the festivities. Assign people who will be responsible for organizing the Secret Santa events – usually, HR professionals handle such activities, but you might also want to assign people from multiple departments to help answer questions and organize everything.
If you use an online generator, you can share a link so everyone can join the game, create a profile, and add their gift preferences.
Here is a template you can use to invite participants.
Subject: Ho Ho Hold the Date! Office Secret Santa!
Hi everyone,
Get ready for some holiday fun! We're excited to announce our Secret Santa exchange this year. It's a great opportunity to spread some holiday cheer and show our appreciation for each other.
This year's exchange will take place on [Date] at [Time] in [Location - e.g., the break room, conference room]. We'll be using the MySanta online generator to assign Secret Santas, and the suggested gift budget is $20. Remember to keep it fun, festive, and appropriate for the workplace.
Please RSVP by [RSVP deadline] so we can finalize the arrangements. If you have any questions or need assistance, simply answer this email.
We can't wait to celebrate the holidays with you!
Happy Holidays,
Your Name
Choose the game format
In the online generator, you can organize an in-person, remote, or hybrid game. Let’s have a closer look at them:
- In person – all players bring gifts to the office and exchange them face to face. People guess their Secret Santa and share holiday fun.
- Remote – the participants send gifts to each other by mail. This is a perfect option if your coworkers live in different cities and never meet in person.
- Hybrid – some people bring physical gifts to the office, and some send them by mail or delivery service. On the gift exchange day, people meet in Zoom and unwrap gifts in front of coworkers.
If you plan a remote Secret Santa for the team this year, read our guide on how to organize the event and exchange gifts in the distance.
Draw names
After all the participants join the exchange, it’s time to decide who gives a present to whom. With many players, it is better to use an online organizer. In our MySanta generator, you can draw names in one click. The results of the draw are saved, so nobody will forget to whom they need to buy a gift.
Each Santa will see what their giftee wants to receive, and what gifts not to give them. And if you are still not sure what the assigned person wants, send them an anonymous message and ask about their interests, likes, and wishes.
Set the rules
To ensure a successful gift exchange, set the key rules in advance and encourage everyone to stick to them. The MySanta team recommends setting the following rules for work:
- Set gift budget. Keep the exchange equal. Nobody wants a situation like the one in the Office episode about where Michael gave Ryan a $400 iPod and received a handmade item. The budget between $15 and $30 is usually good for workplace gifts.
- Keep gifts professional. Don’t give underwear, perfume, self-care items, or medications to a coworker. Inappropriate gifts can spoil workplace relationships.
- Set a gift theme. Encourage employees to bring any items within budget or pick a theme. For example, you can exchange Christmas-themed items, practical gifts, home décor items, or any gifts of red color.
Share gift ideas
Online Secret Santa organizers help each participant choose a good present for the assigned coworker. Each participant completes a questionnaire about what they would like to get and what not to give them. Plus, players can create personal wishlists and add desired items with links. Choosing a perfect present and putting a smile on your coworker’s face has never been easier!
Organize a fun gift exchange party
Plan the corporate Christmas party where all participants will receive gifts and guess their Secret Santa! Players can leave gifts at the recipient’s desk secretly. Or, you can put all the presents under the Christmas tree so that every player can find a gift with their name.
If you organize a game within the department where employees know each other, it will be fun to guess the giver! Here are some ideas for a fun Secret Santa reveal.
Secret Santa reveal ideas
- Gifts with clues – each player attaches a clue or riddle that has hints about the giver’s identity. The giftee has to guess the person based on these clues.
- Holiday Trivia – players have to ask a trivia question before getting their present, and get an extra prize if they answer correctly.
- Holiday charades – each participant opens the gift and acts it out in front of everyone. The person who guesses the most gifts gets a prize.
Get feedback
After the Christmas party, send a short questionnaire in Google Forms to everyone. Ask about what they enjoyed most about the game, and what could be improved. This feedback will help you plan better events in the future.
Organizing a Secret Santa can boost employee morale and strengthen corporate culture in your team. For a large corporation with hundreds of employees, it is more convenient to use an online generator that saves the draw results and players’ gift preferences. Thus, you can focus on organizing a memorable party and creating a great holiday experience for the team.
FAQs
Is there a limit for players in Secret Santa?
You can invite as many people to the exchange as you like! While smaller groups are easier to manage, online generators can handle 100, 500, and more players. In a large company, you can also consider run multiple exchange (for example, in each department separately) to prevent it from becoming overwhelming.
How do we ensure fairness in the gift exchange?
Communicate the gift budget to all participants to keep the exchange fair. To avoid inappropriate gifts, it also helps to set the gift theme and communicate the company policies to participants so that everyone knows what gifts are acceptable to give to coworkers.
What are other variations of Secret Santa at work?
Consider a White Elephant exchange that encourages swapping and stealing gifts from each other. If you are up for something more adventurous, try the Santa Casino where players bring gifts and also try to win money. A group donation to a chosen charity is another variation.
