Secret Santa Questionnaire: 30 Questions to Send Before the Draw

A Secret Santa questionnaire is a short form every participant fills in before the gift exchange, so the person who draws their name knows what to buy and what to avoid. Below are 30 copy-ready Secret Santa questions grouped by purpose, with an answer format for each, plus an office edition, a family edition and the organizer's flow from form to match.

The questionnaire solves the oldest problem of the game. Many participants barely know the person they drew, so they buy a mug, a candle or a box of chocolates for someone who is allergic to nuts. Five minutes of answers in November save a drawer full of gifts nobody wanted in January.

Secret Santa questions: the full question bank

The bank has eight groups. You do not need all 30 questions: pick 10 to 15 that fit your group, and keep the ones about allergies, things to avoid and delivery, because those prevent the real mistakes. Each table lists the question as you can paste it into a form and the answer format that works best.

Basics and contact

The first question matters most in an office. It turns participation into a choice and gives people a quiet way to say no without explaining why. The team question helps you avoid drawing pairs who sit next to each other every day, if that is what your group prefers.

Sizes

Ask whether clothes are welcome before you ask for sizes. Many people would rather not share a size with a colleague, and "Prefer not to say" keeps the question optional without making anyone skip the whole form.

Likes and hobbies

"Name three things you would happily get more of" works better than "What do you like?". It asks for something concrete and usually returns answers like "fancy hot sauce, novels by a certain author, warm socks". Those are things a giver can actually buy.

Things to avoid

This group prevents most disappointing gifts. Listing alcohol and joke gifts as plain options lets people rule them out without having to explain a personal reason.

Allergies and diet

The food list follows the nine major food allergens named by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which added sesame in 2023. Snacks and sweets are the easy fallback for a giver who knows little about the person, so this question earns its place even in a five-question form. Allergies and diet can also reveal someone's health or religion, so keep both questions optional and write under them why you ask: "Your Secret Santa will see this so they don't pick food you can't eat."

Wish list

Ask for ideas within the budget. A wish list full of headphones and travel gear puts the giver in an awkward spot, while three ideas under the agreed amount give them a choice and keep the surprise.

Gift budget confirmation

State the amount in the question instead of asking people to propose one. The organizer sees the answers, so someone who finds the amount too high can say so privately. If several people pick the lower option, lower the budget for everyone before the draw.

Delivery for remote teams

The second question is the one to protect. Show it only to people who chose "Remote", and offer delivery through the organizer, so nobody has to give a home address to a colleague they barely know. Say next to the question that the address is used only to ship the gift and deleted after the exchange.

How to write Secret Santa questions people answer well

Short forms get finished. A questionnaire of 10 to 15 questions takes a few minutes, which people will do between meetings. The longer the form, the shorter and vaguer the answers to the last questions, a pattern known as survey fatigue.

Ask for specifics. "What are your hobbies?" returns "reading, music". "What did you read last that you loved?" returns a title and an author, which turns into a gift in one search.

Give choices where the answer set is predictable, such as sizes, allergies and things to avoid, and keep open text for taste: snacks, colors, gift ideas. Add "Surprise me" or "None" to choice questions so nobody has to invent an answer.

Make every personal question optional, and say in the form's opening text which ones are. People skip whole forms when one question feels intrusive, and a half-answered questionnaire is still more useful to the giver than no answers.

Office edition: an inclusive Secret Santa at work

An office Secret Santa mixes people who are friends with people who have never had lunch together. The questionnaire has to work for both, and it should not make anyone feel pushed to take part or to share more than they want.

• Opt-in participation. Put the participation question first and accept "Not this year" without follow-up. Do not send reminders to people who declined, and keep the list of who said no to yourself. If you manage the team, ask a colleague outside your reporting line to organize it, so nobody joins just because their manager is watching.
• One budget for everyone. Fix a modest amount, state it in the form and let people flag privately if it is too high. Salaries differ, and the gift should not reveal that.
• Neutral naming. Not everyone celebrates Christmas. "Year-end gift exchange" works as a subtitle, and the questions themselves should not assume any religion.
• Remote colleagues included. Ask where people will be, offer delivery through the organizer and set a shipping deadline that leaves time for the post.
• Minimal personal data. Drop age, birthday, family status and religion. Ask for a home address only from remote participants who need shipping.
• Alcohol off by default. A giver picks it only when their person named it as a favorite drink, never as the safe or expected gift.

If the company also hosts a party where gifts are exchanged, run the RSVP and the questionnaire as two separate forms. The event registration form template covers attendance, and the company event survey template covers date, format and food for the party itself.

Family and friends edition

With family and friends, you can ask more because people know each other and want more personal gifts. The tone can be playful. The structure stays the same.

The exclusion question saves the classic family problem, where partners draw each other and the game loses its point. For children, have a parent or guardian fill in the form and ask only for an age range and interests.

How the organizer runs it, from form to match

The flow has five steps, and only the draw happens outside the form.

1. Build the form. Pick 10 to 15 questions from the bank above and add the budget and the deadline to the opening text.
2. Share the link. Post it in the team chat or family group, send it by email, or print a QR code for the office kitchen. Our guide to QR code surveys covers where people actually scan them.
3. Collect answers and close the form. Give people about a week, send one reminder, then close the form so nobody changes answers after the draw.
4. Draw names however you like. Names in a hat, folded papers at the office or a random name picker work equally well. Keep the list of pairs to yourself.
5. Send each giver their person's answers. Export the responses to a spreadsheet, then send every giver only the gift answers of the person they drew, in a private message or email. Leave out the email and the address, unless that person chose direct shipping.

A timeline that works for most groups: four weeks before the exchange, announce the game, the budget and the deadline, and share the form. A week later, send one reminder, close the form, draw names and send each giver their person's answers. Set the shipping deadline for remote participants one to two weeks before the exchange, and once the gifts are opened, delete the export and the list of pairs.

Privacy: ask only what you need, and say who sees the answers

A Secret Santa form collects personal data: names, emails, sizes, allergies and sometimes home addresses. Treat it the way you would any other form. In the EU, the GDPR states that personal data must be "limited to what is necessary" for the purpose (Article 5(1)(c)), and that is a good rule for any office gift exchange. Allergies and diet deserve extra care: they can reveal health or religion, which the GDPR treats as special categories of data. Rules differ from country to country, so check the ones that apply to your company.

Put two sentences at the top of the form. The first says who sees the answers: the organizer sees all of them, and each giver sees only the gift answers of the person they drew, without their email or address. The second says when the data goes away, for example "We delete the answers after the exchange". People answer more openly when they know this.

This form cannot be anonymous, because the giver needs to know whose answers they are reading. An anonymous survey fits a different job, such as asking afterwards how the gift exchange went.

How to make a Secret Santa form in SurveyNinja

The fastest start is the ready Secret Santa form. It has 13 questions from this guide: taking part, interests, gifts to avoid, optional allergies, diet and size, a wishlist, and a shipping question only for people who won't be there in person. The welcome screen already says who sees which answers. Copy it to a free account, put in your budget and deadline, and share the link.

To build your own instead, open the form builder and add questions from the bank, or describe the game to Ninja AI in the builder, for example "Secret Santa form for a 30-person office, fixed budget, some people remote", and it drafts the questions for you to review and apply. Use the name and email fields for basics, choice questions for sizes and allergies, and text for tastes and wish lists. A show/hide rule displays the shipping question only to people who answered "Remote", and answer piping can greet each person by the name they entered. Turn on one response per person so nobody submits twice.

Share the form by link or with a QR code in your colors with your logo, and print it on an A4 sheet for the office. When answers are in, close the form and export them to CSV or XLSX, then send each giver their person's gift answers. All of this works on the free plan; see pricing for the limits of each plan.

Frequently asked questions

What questions should be on a Secret Santa questionnaire?

Ask whether the person wants to join, their name and email, sizes if clothes are welcome, three things they would happily get more of, things to avoid, food allergies and diet, gift ideas within the budget and, for remote teams, where to ship. Ten to fifteen questions are enough for a giver to choose well.

How do you send Secret Santa questions to participants?

Build the questions as an online form and share the link in your team chat, family group or email, or print a QR code. When everyone has answered, close the form, draw names, export the answers and send each giver only the answers of the person they drew.

What should you not ask in an office Secret Santa questionnaire?

Leave out age, birthday, religion, family status and anything about income. Ask for a home address only from remote colleagues who need a gift shipped, and offer delivery through the organizer. Make sizes, allergies and diet optional and say at the top of the form who will see the answers.

How do you do Secret Santa with a remote team?

Add a question about where each person will be, show the shipping question only to remote participants and let them choose delivery through the organizer. Set a shipping deadline one to two weeks before the exchange, then open the gifts together on a video call.

How much should you spend on Secret Santa?

There is no standard amount. Pick one fixed budget for everyone, state it in the questionnaire and let people say privately if it is too high. In offices, a modest amount keeps the game fair for people at different salary levels. Families often agree on a higher one.

Can a form draw the names for Secret Santa?

The form collects the answers, and the draw happens separately: names in a hat, folded papers or a random name picker. After the draw, the organizer exports the answers to a spreadsheet and sends each giver the gift answers of the person they drew, privately, without their email or address.