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Build a Secret Santa questionnaire

Pick the questions, share one link. Each Santa gets the answers.

7 proven questions One link for everyone Gift ideas from the answers

Step 1

The questions

Untick anything that does not fit your group. Everyone answers the same set.

Step 2

The group

Step 3 (optional)

Who should fill it in

Add names now and anyone with an email gets the link immediately. Or skip this and share the link yourself — people add themselves when they answer.

Why a questionnaire beats guessing

Most Secret Santa gifts disappoint for one reason: the gifter had nothing to go on. A budget and a name is not enough to buy for a coworker you have spoken to twice. Seven short answers change that. The single most useful one is "something you would love but would never buy for yourself", because it surfaces the small luxury someone has been talking themselves out of, which is exactly the gift that lands.

The questions here are deliberately about taste rather than facts. Age and job title do not help anyone shop; how someone spends a free Saturday does.

How the link works

You get one address to share. Each person opens it, enters their name and email, and answers. Once they have answered, they can open the same link later to read everyone else's answers, which is what they need the moment they find out who they drew. The organizer's admin page lists who has answered and who has not, so the chasing is targeted rather than a group message that everyone ignores.

Answers also feed the gift ideas. Each person's answers are turned into a short list of Amazon searches filtered to the budget, so the gifter starts from "camping gear under $30" rather than from a blank search box.

If you would rather not use a link

The same questions exist as a free printable PDF and as copy-paste templates for email and Slack. The questions page explains why each one is on the list and which to cut for kids, coworkers or family.

Related

The rest of the exchange

Common questions

Do I need to have drawn names first?

No. The questionnaire works on its own. Many groups draw names from a hat at a party and then use this to collect everyone's answers afterwards. If you have not drawn yet, the Secret Santa generator does both in one step.

Who can see the answers?

Anyone in the group who has filled in their own questionnaire can open the group's answers, and the organizer can see them from the admin page. Nobody outside the link can. Answers are about gift preferences, not anything sensitive, and people can leave any question blank.

Can I change the questions?

You choose which of the seven standard questions to include. They are the ones that consistently lead to a good gift: how someone spends free time, what they would never buy themselves, tastes to avoid, and a short specific wishlist.

Is there a printable version?

Yes. The printable questionnaire page has a free PDF of the same questions for groups that would rather pass paper around, and the template page has copy-paste versions for email and Slack.

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