Secret Santa post-deadline FAQ

Secret Santas, the shipping deadline is today! But don’t worry if you haven’t sent your package yet, just keep your giftee informed and all will be well. If you have questions, please review the answers below. If you have further doubts or issues, please reach out to an elf!

For those of you just joining us and wondering what the heck is Secret Santa, it’s a gift exchange run by the community! You can see the gifts people have gotten—see the gallery on Givin Gifts for green tier and red tier. Or you can click on the “Secret Santa!” post flair or look at the #FPSanta hashtag on Mastodon.

Q&A

I am late getting my gift shipped out, what should I do?

Reach out to your giftee via Givin Gifts / Reddit / Mastodon! It’s OK as long as they know you are still around, participating in the exchange, and intend to ship to them, but are delayed.

I haven’t heard from my Santa and my gift hasn’t shipped.

You can reach out to them via Givin.Gifts and this should send them an email notification that they have a message waiting. If you know their reddit username, you can reach out to them there. If you don’t know their reddit name and they aren’t responding on GG, please contact an elf who will give you their reddit username. If you still don’t hear from them, please sit tight—about a week after the shipping deadline GG will send out an email asking if you received a gift. Select the option “I did not receive a gift and I have not heard from my gifter” and you’ll be entered into the rematching pool. 

My Santa told me that they are shipping late, what should I do so I don’t get a rematch?

Givin.Gifts will be sending out emails about a week after the shipping deadline asking if you got your gift. Select the option “I have not received a gift but I have heard from my gifter” and you will not be rematched. 

I joined the exchange late - I haven’t received my gift and I’m still working on getting my gift sent out - how should I respond to the Givin.Gifts email checking on the status?

If you haven’t heard from your gifter yet, please let someone on the Elf Team know immediately so we can nudge them. If you have heard from them, select the option “I have not received a gift but I have heard from my gifter”. Please also make sure that your giftee is aware that you are still working on the gift so they know to select that option as well. 

I and/or my giftee is affected by the Canadian mail strike. 

Please keep in touch with your giftee and let your nearest Elf know. This will let us ensure that everyone affected is aware, in touch with each other, and still planning on sending a gift when the strike resolves.

My Santa shipped and the package is marked as delivered, but I haven’t received it.

Please contact the carrier for more information. This time of the year it is common for services to mark as delivered but deliver it the next day. It is also possible that it was misdelivered—check with neighbors—or that porch pirates took it. Please contact an elf if it hasn’t turned up within 2-3 days of delivery and we can discuss options.

I received my gift but it was below the tier minimum.

Send a photo and description of the contents to an elf. The Secret Santa Elf Team will review. We will also contact the gifter to find out if more is on the way or try to otherwise resolve the situation. If the team and GG support agree that the tier minimum was not met, we will work with GG to rematch you to a new gifter. 

What happens if I don’t receive a gift?

Please try to reach out to your gifter to see if something is on the way if you have not already heard from them or received tracking info! GG will send an email about a week after the shipping deadline to ask if you have received a gift, not received a gift but are in touch with your gifter, or have not received a gift and not heard from your gifter. The latter option enters you into the rematching pool.

How does rematching work?

Toward the end of the year, people who did not receive gifts are entered into a rematching pool and Givin Gifts will try to match the people still needing gifts with volunteers who have offered to send extra gifts (rematchers). If the system cannot find an appropriate rematcher, the elf team will manually intervene and assign rematches in early January. 

How do I volunteer as a rematcher?

Go to the exchange page on GG: green tier - red tier. Under “exchange actions” (on right on desktop, on bottom on mobile), click the button “become a rematcher”. Enter the number of extra gifts you are willing to send, and your matching preference (where you are willing to send gifts).

Can I volunteer to rematch if I wasn’t in the original exchange?

Yes. Post below with your country, where you are willing to send to, and which tier of gift you’re willing to send. For example, “I’m in the US and can send a red tier gift to US and Canada” or “I’m in France and can send 3 green tier gifts within the EU+UK”. If we do need to call upon you to send a gift, the team will reach out with further instructions.

Other questions

Please review the Givin Gifts FAQs or contact an elf, below!

Need help? Contact an elf!

If you need help, comment below or contact the appropriate team member(s) depending on your region. We recommend contacting an elf in a timezone close to yours for prompt responses compatible with your schedule.

You can easily identify the exchange organizers by the “Santa’s Elf” user flair on Reddit:

• Americas West/Central: u/merantite and u/write_knife_sew
• Americas East: u/jezlyn, u/duskbunnie, and u/Ok-Seaweed7173
• Europe/Middle East/Africa:  u/halfcelestialelf and u/PrestigiousCap1198
• Asia/Oceania: u/paradoxmo
• Head Elf (escalations/other): u/merantite

You can contact the exchange organizers on Mastodon:

• Americas West and Central: @alexa488@penfount.social and @write_knife_sew@penfount.social
• Americas East: @jezlyn@mastodon.social and @inkycicada@penfount.social
• Europe/Middle East/Africa: @Halfcelestialelf@penfount.social
• Asia/Oceania: @paradoxmo@penfount.social
• Head Elf (escalations/other): @alexa488@penfount.social