Not all Secret Santa gift exchanges aren’t fair; in fact, most of them aren’t. There are Reddit threads spanning years, dedicated to people talking about the worst secret Santa gifts they have gotten. The problem is that while one person puts a lot of effort and thought into the gift, the person might just get something very random.

Gift-giving is about the thought, not just the gift itself. Using a Secret Santa questionnaire can make your holiday gift exchange more fun and thoughtful if you ask the right questions. Here’s a guide to help you create the perfect questionnaire and ensure everyone gets the perfect Christmas gift.

What Is a Secret Santa Questionnaire?

Secret Santa is a Christmas gift exchange game where people gift one another gifts but only the personal gifting knows who they are gifting, the person receiving the gift doesn’t know who the gift is from.

So, the Secret Santa Questionnaire is a list of questions that collects people’s interests, preferences, and even their Christmas wish list for the holiday gift exchange. It ensures everyone gets thoughtful and sometimes, even the perfect Christmas gift.

How Does the Survey Impact Christmas Gift Exchange?

Here’s how creating a questionnaire makes your gift-giving better:

• Provides a Clear Guide: it asks important questions about respondents’ favorite things and activities. Their Secret Santa can easily get great gift ideas from this and get the perfect Christmas gift.
• Streamlined Process: Rather than secretly asking questions to understand the kind of gifts people would appreciate, the questionnaire removes the guesswork and helps you get what really matters to them.
• Ensuring fairness: Almost every year, people talk about their worst Secret Santa experience. Using the questionnaire ensures everyone is conscious of the other person’s preferences and provides a list to pick from.

How Do I Ask the Right Questions?

Your questions should focus on getting to know the participants and allowing them to express what they want for the holiday season. Think of it as their secret letter to Santa.

Where to Use Secret Santa Questions

Secret Santa can help you step up your Christmas gift-giving game at work or even for family and friends. Here’s how you can use the questionnaire:

• Workplaces: You can use the questionnaire to collect employees’ roles, interests, and favorite things. When someone picks a coworker, they use the information on the list to get them a thoughtful gift and the same applies to whoever picks them.
• Friends:  For your holiday hangout, you can ask everyone in your friend group for their hobbies, favorite movies, books, or music. You can also use the questionnaire to create Christmas party games in addition to gift-giving.
• Families: you can make your kids’ Christmas more fun with a Secret Santa form. Ask questions about their interests and open a section for their Christmas wishes. You can even print the Santa template so they can fill it physically, especially if you have young children learning how to write.

Best Questions to Ask in the Secret Santa Questionnaire

Here are some questions to help you create a smooth Secret Santa Christmas:

• Interests and Hobbies: A list of favorite hobbies or activities. You can add checkboxes for this and other options for respondents to mention theirs if it’s not listed.
• Dislikes: People can like certain activities and things but dislike some part of them. So, collect respondents’ dislikes so no one gets them a gift they hate.
• Budget Range: Nobody wants to spend $50 on a Christmas hamper, only to get a $7 gift in exchange. Asking for budget preference ensures nobody feels cheated after exchanging gifts.
• Allergies/dietary restrictions: The last thing you need is people trashing their Christmas presents or worse an allergic reaction during a Christmas party. So, ensure everyone involved clearly states their allergies and restrictions.
• Preferred Gifts: Ask people to specify exactly what they want. This helps the giver come up with a thoughtful gift the receiver would appreciate.

Characteristics of an Effective Secret Santa Template

Your Secret Santa survey template should be:

• Simple and Organized: The goal of the form is to streamline the process; don’t complicate it with too many questions.
• Clean Form Look- while your Secret Santa Form design doesn’t need to be over the top, you can add a Christmas theme to give respondents a feel of the holiday season.
• Flexible: Your questionnaire should be responsive across all devices. You can also give people the option to edit their responses if they change their minds before you close the form.
• Easy to share: Ensure everyone can easily get the form and fill in their responses. So, you can send emails with reminders, and QR codes, embed the form code on a webpage or even send the direct link to the people participating. Also, Christmas is most people’s time for a digital detox, so make the questionnaire printable so everyone is involved with or without their devices.
• Confidential: Only the person giving the gift should know the receiver’s preferences, so manage the form access so only the right people see it.

How to Create a Secret Santa Questionnaire with Formplus

Here’s a step-by-step guide for creating the best Secret Santa Form:

• Go to the Secret Santa Questionnaire template
• Click Use template
• Sign in or create your account
• Edit the form to fit your Secret Santa questions and save.
• Customize the form by changing the color palette, and font.
• Go to settings and add a reminder for the deadline.
• Share the form with respondents via email, direct form link, social media cards, or QR code. You can also embed the form code on your website or print the form as a PDF.
• Collect participant responses and forward them to their individual Secret Santa.

Benefits of Using a Secret Santa Survey

• Personalized Gifts: Nobody is going in blind with random gifts, there’s already a list to guide the person in giving the recipient the perfect present.
• Avoiding Inappropriate Gifts: As the organizer, when a particular person gets picked, send their form response as a sheet detailing their allergies, dislikes, and dietary restrictions. This ensures nobody gets a gift they hate or trigger their allergies.
• Efficient: Browsing and getting the perfect present for significant events can be a lot of pressure. However, with a questionnaire, you have a comprehensive list of the recipient’s likes and dislikes, guiding you and saving you time.
• Group Compatibility: Using the questionnaire also ensures everyone smiles at the gifts they get in return.
• Fun and Enjoyment: You can also use the data collected from the questionnaire to create Christmas games and activities.

Wrapping Up

The key to having a successful Secret Santa is to ask the right questions. Using a Secret Santa questionnaire helps you ask important questions about respondents’ preferences, ensuring everyone gets a fair Christmas gift.

The Formplus Secret Santa questionnaire template is a simple and customizable form that allows you to organize Secret Santa surprises without hassle. All you need to do is edit the questions, and you’re all set.