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New Year

The draw for everyone who missed each other in December

Diaries fill up, people travel, half the group never manages the same evening. A New Year exchange gives you the celebration back — in January, when everyone is actually around.

Create our New Year draw

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You are giving toJude

Why draw names for the New Year

December is crowded. Between family, work parties and travel, plenty of groups never find an evening that suits everyone — and the exchange quietly gets dropped.

Moving it to January fixes that. The shops are calmer, the budget has recovered, and a gift exchange is a far better reason to gather than a vague promise to catch up soon.

How to organise it

  1. 1

    Pick the evening first

    Choose the date before anything else. January fills up faster than people expect, and the draw only makes sense if there is an evening at the end of it.

  2. 2

    Add everyone

    First name, last name, email. Nobody installs anything and nobody creates an account.

  3. 3

    Mark who cannot draw whom

    Couples, flatmates, anyone who already exchanged in December: flag the pairs and the draw works around them.

  4. 4

    Send the draw

    Everyone gets a private link and scratches a card. You follow who has opened theirs, never who drew whom.

Worth agreeing on first

A budget that respects January
December has already emptied everyone’s account. Set the ceiling lower than you would before Christmas — ten to twenty is plenty.
A date early enough to still feel like the New Year
Past the end of January it stops being a New Year exchange and becomes a dinner that keeps being postponed. Pick a date in the first three weeks.
Exclusions for whoever already exchanged
Some of the group will have managed a gift in December. Flag those pairs so nobody gives to the same person twice.
A theme that suits the season
Something for the year ahead, something to use up in winter, something second-hand. A constraint gives a January gift more meaning than a bigger budget.

Common questions

How many people do you need?

Three is the minimum. With two there is no secret: each one knows they are giving to the other.

Can I stop two people from drawing each other?

Yes. Flag any pair and the draw routes around it. If the exclusions make a valid draw impossible, Pindao says so before a single email goes out.

Will I see who drew whom?

No. The matches are encrypted and never displayed, including to you as the organiser. Your dashboard shows progress only.

Do my guests need an account?

No. Each person gets a private link by email that works straight away. Only you sign in, and by email link rather than a password.

Is it too late to organise one in January?

No. Pindao compresses the reminder schedule to fit the time left, so a draw sent a week before the evening still works properly.

Can we use it for New Year resolutions instead of gifts?

Yes. Some groups draw a name and write that person a note for the year ahead. The draw is the same; only the brief changes.

Start the year with something better than a group chat

Add the names, send the draw, and let everyone scratch.

Create our New Year drawPindao

Worth reading before you draw

Guides written for this kind of exchange — the rules, the budget, and the part that usually goes wrong.

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