What are the Best Office Gift Exchange Ideas?

A staple among friends and colleagues, the white elephant gift exchange is fun for everyone. It’s also budget-friendly, as every gift has a price limit.

Each person on your team will bring in a single gift, dropping it off in a designated area. At gift exchange time, have each individual draw a number (from a hat, box, etc.). From lowest to highest number, allow each team member to select a gift from the pile. As each person opens their gift, they guess who bought it and have the option to keep it or steal a gift from someone else. Everyone takes turns until each person has a gift. Pro tip: limit the number of steals per person, or the game may never end!

White elephant exchanges are exciting because recipients could wind up with just about anything. From regifted items and gag gifts, to thoughtful gifts and bottles of wine, the thrill is in nabbing the gift you have your eye on.

Add some mystery and personalization to the office gift exchange by turning each team member into a Secret Santa. In this format, everyone in the office has one person to buy for, but only the purchaser knows their recipient’s identity!

Start by writing everyone’s name down, and have each team member draw a name. With a set budget in mind, everyone will get to work in selecting the perfect gift for the person they selected. Rather than blindly buying something that might be universally-enjoyed, this option lets you use what you know about your officemates and select something aimed at your recipient. Is Sally a coffee nut? Consider a mug or a gift card to a favorite cafe. Is John into music? Try a music streaming gift card, or an old-school vinyl record of a favorite artist.

Occasionally, two people will end up buying for each other, but don’t depend on that. Part of the fun is in guessing who your Secret Santa is.

Make gift giving a no-brainer with a simple grab bag. A cross between both the white elephant and Secret Santa, grab bag gift exchanges put the focus on buying one gift that team members will select by the order of the number they draw.

There are two ways to execute the perfect grab bag exchange at you office holiday party. For the first method, label each gift with a number. Have each team member draw a number. Team members will then match their number to the corresponding gift. In the second iteration, simply allow everyone to randomly choose a number. Each team member will select a gift in order, but without numbering the gifts they’ll have a bit more choice.

If you’d like to incorporate a gift exchange, but the party is days away, a grab bag is a quick way to get folks involved.

No matter how you share holiday cheer with your colleagues, we’d love to be part of your celebration. Book a last-minute holiday party at Zone 28, or pick up a Zone 28 gift card for the office gift exchange. We’ll see you in the Zone.