Less work for bigger Secret Santa groups

Grandad Ted has no smartphone, and in a class Secret Santa for the youngest children nobody has one either. Printable cards are paper slips for them: after the draw you download them as a PDF, two to an A4 sheet. The outside says “For Ted”; inside is the person he gives to, with the budget, the date and a QR code to his own page.

You choose whom to print for; everyone else keeps using their link. It suits a running club's Secret Santa too, where a few members never bring a phone to training. Whoever prints the cards can see who gives to whom, so hand them over folded.

With eighteen people around the tree, six-year-old Mia should not end up with her uncle. A pot is a separate draw inside the group. Several pots split the group: one pot for the children with a £15 (or €15) budget, one for the adults with £30 (or €30). Each pot draws on its own, and everyone is in exactly one pot.

It works the same for Secret Santa across departments, with one pot per department: one group, one date, and still nobody in sales draws someone from accounts. Exclusions, for couples say, work as before.

Wichtlify reminds people about missing wishes in every group for free. They get a notice in their link, a push notification in the app and, once they have confirmed their address, an email. With Pro you also choose the reminder days yourself, say two weeks before the date.

Insights show you, over a period you choose, who has opened their link and who has added a wish, and tell you when too few have. If a wish list is still empty, an anonymous question helps: you ask the person you give to “Tea or coffee?” without giving yourself away. It works in the browser and in the app.

With a picture on her wish, Lena shows which scarf she means instead of describing it. The group photo, say from last year's party, appears on every member's page.

You choose one of the Pro looks for the group. Its colours and picture then carry the group's pages, the invitation email and the preview when you share the link in a chat. Instead of initials, every member wears a picture of a funny character; a few are free, and with Pro you can pick any of them.

If someone drops out after the draw, the free emergency repair gives a new person only to those affected. A new round with this group is free too, and the draw avoids the assignments of the last round.

To buy Pro, open the Secret Santa app for iOS and Android; you cannot buy it in the browser. In pounds or another currency, the App Store or Google Play shows you the price. The subscription can be cancelled at any time.