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Large-group Secret Santa and multi-team draws

A single draw takes 3 to 100 names. For bigger exchanges the product does not stretch one draw: it runs separate groups, and the Office Pack covers up to 10 groups of up to 50 people each with one combined CSV. This is how to split a department, a building or an extended family without breaking the rules.

The numbers that decide your setup

Limits and prices from Organizer Pro and how it works, checked 2026-10-30.

The first limit is a hard one: the create endpoint rejects more than 100 names, and the error tells you so. The Office Pack cap is also enforced: applying the pack to a group of 51 people is refused with a message naming the 50-person limit.

Two architectures, and what each one can do

A 120-person office has two workable shapes. They answer different questions, and neither is a bigger version of the other.

Option A: one draw per team (Office Pack)

• Each team is a separate group with its own organizer link, names, budget and rules.
• Nothing crosses teams: someone in Sales can never draw someone in Support, because the two are not in the same draw.
• One combined CSV of every group: names, private links, opened status and wishlists.
• Up to 10 groups, up to 50 people per group.
• Best when teams have their own party, budget or exchange date.

Option B: one draw with a team exclusion group (Organizer Pro)

• One draw, one set of links. Whole households, couples or teams are excluded from each other inside that draw.
• Every participant still gets exactly one receiver from the same pool, so a team of 12 is matched across the whole office, not only inside the team.
• Re-draw in one tap, until the first participant opens their link.
• The draw form accepts up to 100 names; a sign-up link grows the group to 1,000.
• Best when there is one party and one budget, but colleagues should not draw their own team.

Exclusion groups tighten the constraints. Every extra rule removes options, and a rule set with no complete assignment fails with a clear message instead of a partial draw. Splitting into separate groups is the reset that always works. The exact failure messages and the search behind them are on how the draw works; the rules of the exchange itself are on Secret Santa rules.

Setting up a multi-team draw

1. Size each team at 3 to 50. Under three, the draw refuses. Over 50, the Office Pack refuses the group.
2. Make names unique inside each team. Duplicates are rejected case-insensitively and names are cut to 40 characters, so use "Ana L. (Finance)" when two people share a first name.
3. Set one budget for all teams. A single number avoids the awkward case where one department spends double and the other notices.
4. Create the first team on the home page and keep its organizer link somewhere safe. Then repeat for the next team. Each group is independent; only the pack is shared.
5. Apply the pack to each group, up to 10. Then share each participant's private link — WhatsApp, text or email, one link per person.
6. Watch the opened column. The organizer page shows who has opened their link; Pro adds ready-to-send reminders for the ones who have not.
7. Export the combined CSV before the gifts are opened, and keep it. Groups delete themselves 120 days after creation, and the CSV is the record that survives.

Rules that break at scale

• Exclusions are per draw. There is no cross-group rule. If Sales must never draw Sales, keep them in separate groups or put everyone in one draw with a team exclusion group.
• Every participant needs at least one allowed receiver. If someone is excluded from all other participants the draw stops and names them. In a team of four, a person with three exclusions is already at the limit.
• Dense rules can exhaust the search. The backtracking search is capped at 200,000 steps. A rule set can fail even when a solution exists, and the message is the same; remove one rule.
• Re-draw locks on first open. Once a participant opens their link, the pairing is final. Decide rules before you send links, not after.
• Duplicate names across groups are fine. Inside one draw they are an error, which is why the naming convention matters.
• Groups expire. Everything is deleted 120 days after creation, including wishlists and photos. Export anything you need to keep.

Budget, addresses and deadlines

Set the gift budget per group, not per person: the figure prints on every reveal page, so the whole team sees the same number. Separate draws may carry different budgets, but one number across the office is easier to explain and harder to resent.

Delivery addresses belong in each person's wishlist, where only the person who drew them can read them. For a remote or multi-site exchange, set a shipping deadline two weeks before the party, ask everyone to fill in their wishlist by that date, and keep e-gift cards as the fallback for anyone who does not want to share an address.

What it costs

$19 for up to 10 groups works out at $1.90 per group; $9.90 covers one group of up to 1,000 with a sign-up link. That is arithmetic on the published prices, not a discount claim. Gift picks are the optional paid extra at $1.90 for a whole group.

Source: product pages office Secret Santa, Organizer Pro and how it works, checked 2026-10-30; limits also verified in the group code.

Questions

Updated October 30, 2026