Wednesday, December 2, 9:40 p.m. Someone in the work chat writes: “Guys, are we doing a St. Nicholas gift swap? It’s on Sunday.”
Two minutes of silence. Then “oh no”. Then another “oh no”, this time with an emoji. Someone asks where you even run a draw, someone remembers that Tanya lives in Lviv and a parcel there does not arrive overnight. Four days to go, fewer to the weekend. Nobody has drawn anybody, and Bohdan is already typing: “I can just buy everyone a chocolate bar.”
We have all been in that chat. It is rarely laziness. St. Nicholas Day just sneaks up faster than New Year. New Year hangs on the calendar for a month, while December 6 arrives out of nowhere.
A date that will not move
In 2026, December 6 falls on a Sunday. A team will not gather on a day off, so the hand-over realistically lands on Friday, December 4, or Monday, December 7. And that is the whole game: Secret Nicholas has no “well, we can do it after the holidays”. There is a day by which the gifts must already be lying on desks, and you count back from it.
It works like planning a trip: flight first, everything else after. So this guide starts not with the draw, but with the end.
Nicholas is not Santa
The mechanics are the same: a draw, one person, one gift, one secret. The difference is the occasion. Santa is tied to New Year and Christmas, so people play late in December and the exact day does not bother anyone. Nicholas is tied to a specific day. Since the Ukrainian churches moved to the revised Julian calendar, it is marked on December 6, though some people still keep December 19. So the first message in the chat should say not only “we are playing” but also “on which date”.
It also has the easiest explanation for adults who feel shy about playing. By tradition, St. Nicholas leaves a small gift under the pillow. Adults kept the main thing: the gift appears unexpectedly, and the giver stays a mystery. You will not slip anything under a colleague’s pillow, but putting it on their desk before they arrive works just as well.
Counting backwards
In person, two weeks is enough: a shop gift is a one-evening job. If people live in different cities and everything goes by post, you need three, because there is choosing, shipping and that very parcel to Lviv. That is why the draw in our story sits on November 15: for remote players it is exactly three weeks before the 6th, and for an office it leaves a comfortable cushion.
- November 8
Announcement
Create the group and drop the link in the chat with the date, the budget and one request: add your wishes by the 14th.
- November 14
Wishes
The last chance to write about yourself while nobody knows who will read it.
- November 15
The draw
Everyone is in the group and has wishes written. Each person opens their personal link.
- November 26
Last parcel
For remote players, the last day to order with delivery and still leave a buffer for a delay.
- December 4Friday
Gifts on desks
The team leaves gifts before people arrive or hands them over together.
- December 6Sunday
Nicholas himself
Friends, family and those far away unwrap in a chat or around one table.
Collect wishes before the draw, not after. Then everyone writes about themselves without knowing who will read it, and nobody feels shy. After the draw, the organizer ends up chasing people one by one, and that is worse than it sounds. Besides, a wish like “I like tea without flavourings, no candles or mugs, glove size M” is a rescue, while “Anything is fine” forces guessing. Name the budget up front too, so nobody has to ask about money out loud. More on the amount in the Secret Santa rules.
If your group celebrates on December 19, shift everything by 13 days: draw on November 28, last parcel on December 9. But the 19th is a Saturday, so the hand-over moves to Friday the 18th again, and the only difference from Santa is the name.
What to say in the chat
Nobody answers a general “who wants to play?”. People answer a message with a date and one action. Copy it and fill in your own numbers.
Friends, for St. Nicholas Day we are playing Secret Nicholas. Hand-over on Friday, December 4, budget [amount] ₴. Open the link [link], add your name and two or three wishes by November 14. The draw is on the 15th, and only you will see your person. If you are not in our city, message me and we will agree on a pickup point or a parcel locker.
And if the deadline is creeping up while two people are still silent, the second one helps.
Reminder: the last day to order a gift with delivery is November 26. If something goes off plan, do not stay quiet, message me and we will figure it out.
If someone drops out
Someone gets sick, leaves, changes their mind. It happens in the best groups. Secret Santa cannot remove a person from a group, so agree in advance and put it in the first message: whoever was meant to receive a gift from the person who dropped out gets one from the organizer or a volunteer. A gift already bought for the dropout can be regifted. That way nobody feels awkward, and Bohdan finally finds a use for his chocolate bars.
If someone joins late instead, the organizer can cancel the draw and run it again. But only while nobody has opened their link.
A draw without drama
You can run it in the free Secret Santa by Duomni: name the group “Secret Nicholas”, set the budget and the exchange date, and drop the link in the chat. The organizer cannot see who gives to whom, so they can play too.
And at 9:40 p.m. on December 2, the chat will be quiet in a very different way: everyone already knows whom they are giving to, and nobody asks who started all this. The Duomni app for couples is still getting ready to launch, but it will save a loved one’s wishes and dates and remind you two weeks ahead with a selection of gifts.
