Frequently asked questions

Yes. There are no fees, no subscriptions and no ads, for the organizer or for anyone who joins. Happy Giving earns a small commission when people buy gifts through some of our links. That never changes what you pay. See how we make money.

The organizer starts the draw, and our server picks every pairing at once using a random shuffle. Your phone only ever receives your own pair, so nobody, including the organizer, has a screen that lists who drew whom. Each person taps "Draw my person" to see the name they are buying for. Nobody can see who drew them until the reveal on gift day.

The shuffle also makes sure no one draws themselves and respects any exclusions the organizer sets.

Yes. A parent or another adult in the group can add them as a managed member. The adult fills in their photo, clues and wishlist for them and sees who they are buying for, the same way a parent helps a child at a paper draw. People under 13 never have their own account. They only appear as a profile created and controlled by an adult.

To keep the secret fair, a managed member is never assigned to give a gift to the adult who manages them, and each adult can manage up to three people.

With 3 people, every possible draw is a single loop, so once you know who you are buying for you can work out who is buying for you. With 2 people it is obvious. With 4 or more, a draw can have several possibilities, so nobody can be certain who drew them.

Yes. The organizer can set exclusions before the draw: couples, siblings, or anyone who should not draw someone else. The draw respects every exclusion. If a set of exclusions makes a valid draw impossible, Happy Giving tells the organizer which one to relax.

Yes. Everyone joins from a link, so your team can be in different cities. Anyone can add an optional ship-to address that only the person who drew them can see, and the organizer can pick work-safe clue presets for the game.

Through affiliate links. When you open a gift idea or a store link and buy something, the store may pay us a small commission. It costs you nothing extra, and we never sell your data or show ads. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Read the full affiliate disclosure.

The organizer sets a limit for each gift, such as $25. Every wishlist item has to be at or under that limit, and the app blocks any item priced above it. The limit applies to each gift, not to the total.

No. Each person adds three to five ideas from any store, or no store at all. Paste a link if you have one, or just type what you want.

On gift day, each giver reads clues about their person, from vague to specific, and everyone guesses out loud. Then the giver reveals the pair with a big photo. It is optional, and an organizer can skip it and reveal everyone at once.

Before the draw, the organizer can add or remove members freely. After the draw, adding someone means drawing again so the secret holds, and the app tells the organizer before it does anything. Only the organizer can redraw, and only before the gift date.

No. Everything works in the web app in any browser. The iPhone and Android apps are there if you prefer them, and your account works on all of them.

We collect only what the app needs to work, with no ad or tracking tools. You can delete your account at any time from Settings. See the privacy policy.