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Giftmas 2026 Sign-Ups

That’s right, it’s happening again this year! Just like every year! Hooray for Giftmas 2026! Things might look a little different this year because Grumproro (WordPress & Sparkles 💖) and Nate The Lesser (Spreadsheet Expert 😎) are driving this sleigh, but we promise it will be pretty much exactly the same as always.

Click Here to Sign UP by Friday, October 16th at 11:59 PM (CDT)

Have no idea what we’re talking about? Well, since you asked…

Fuma (&TEAM)

🥑 Giftmas? What’s that?

Basically it’s The Avocado’s birthday and Winter Holiday Of Your Preference rolled into one. We started doing it 11 years ago to celebrate the one-year anniversary of The Avocado’s existence, which happened to be December 4th (the full name of this Most Holy Day is Giftmasiversary). The date has floated to the first Sunday in December, as Sundays seem to be more manageable for people to spend all day refreshing a page on the internet. This year, it will actually be the SECOND Sunday of December, which is December 13th. Why? Well, it’s just more convenient for the organizers. So I guess that’s one change. Please, don’t panic!

🥑 COOL! Wait, what happens exactly?

So we do this really fun gift exchange, basically like Reddit Secret Santa except way cooler because we all at least kinda know each other and have overlapping interests. Check out last year’s exchange thread if you want an idea of how it went.

🥑 Whoa, that’s pretty cool. Are there, like, rules?

Kinda:

  • There’s a $30 cap and homemade gifts are encouraged, that way hopefully cost is less of an issue.
  • To that end, you can specify both your shipping and receiving preferences, to minimize cost as much as possible and to maintain whatever level of privacy you’re comfortable with.
  • You have to get your gift to your giftee by Giftmas, so realistically, December 12th at the very latest.
  • In the event there is someone you would not be comfortable giving a gift to/receiving a gift from under any circumstances, there will be a place to note that and we are the only ones who will ever see it.
  • No swaps once giftees are assigned.
  • That’s more or less it.

🥑 But how will my gifter know what to get me? What the heck do I get my giftee?

So there is actually a section in the form to list both the things you’re interested in (e.g. Dr. Who, early Regency literature, &TEAM, werewolves, etc.) and any restrictions or specifics (e.g. shirt size L, nut allergy, a complete spreadsheet of every &TEAM photocard I already own, etc.). Plus, we’ll do at least one wish list / gift idea brainstorming thread and an introductions thread, so you can comment-history-creep your giftee to your heart’s content!

🥑 Look, I’m a newbie and I just feel like I’ll be stepping on y’all’s toes by participating. Maybe next year.

That’s totally fair! But you should know that every year we have a good number of newbies participate and a lot of folks sat out who later said they regretted not participating. Honest, even new folks tend to find value in Giftmas, and it can be a great way to feel like you’ve become part of the community pretty quickly.

🥑 Still, I feel weird sending any personal info to a stranger on the internet.

Also totally fair! FWIW though, we will fully destroy all spreadsheets after they’re no longer needed. And even if every single member of &TEAM asked, we will not be sharing them with anyone. Really! And, if it helps to know, Grumproro herself was too nervous to participate for a few years for this exact reason, and now she’s helping run it, so she really, really gets how important it is to respect your privacy. And Nate is super trustworthy, so much so that Grumproro knows him IRL! That’s right, real life!

👍 We’re very trustworthy! 👍

🥑 Anything else I should know?

In addition to giving gifts, we also hold a charity drive every Giftmas! The first two charities have been chosen by the organizers, but the third is up to you all! Details below.

Now that you’re convinced…time to sign up! 💝

  1. Sign up and tell us your preferences by completing this form by 11:59pm CDT time on Friday, October 14th. If you have any problems using the form, or the form is not equipped to address your specific situation, please let us know ASAP.
  2. Sit on your hands and wait until you get an email from us with your giftee’s details, along with additional information. Our goal is to have all assignments sent out by Monday, October 19th.
  3. Ship your gift so that it will arrive on or before Saturday, December 12th. DON’T INCLUDE YOUR USERNAME! It’s supposed to be a secret 🤫
  4. DO NOT OPEN YOUR GIFT UNTIL DECEMBER 13th.
  5. Join us in the Giftmas thread on Sunday, December 13th! The thread will go live at 10am CT, at which point we can all thank our fellow Avocados for their generosity, and people who are dying to know who their gifter was can ask in the Gifter Reveal thread. Please respect that not everyone will wish to know who their gifter was. No spoilers!
The Spirit of Giftmas Charity Drive

The charity drive will begin on Giftmas Day (12/13) and last a week. The suggested donation amount will be set at $5, and the fundraising goal will be set for whatever 5x[total Giftmas participants] is. Folks who are in the position to do so can “adopt a donation” on behalf of those ‘cados that aren’t able to participate. You do not have to be a Giftmas participant to donate to the charity drive.

There’s a question in the form to vote for charities. In the interest of maximizing our donations, we limit the charities to the top three every year. This year, Grumproro and Nate decided to choose two of these as a special memorial to two Giftmas participants: The Nature Conservancy for Sirilicious and The Bond Between for Prestidigititis.

The list on the form includes all the charities we listed previous years. Feel free to vote for as many as you like, and/or stage a write-in campaign for your unlisted preference.

We will post donation receipts in the Giftmas thread once they’ve been transferred.

GIFTMAS: Our priorities

1) Respect for privacy. There are a number of different options for both shipping and receiving, to try and be as inclusive as possible while respecting that everyone has different levels of comfort with personal information being out there in the world. Grumproro and Nate are the only ones who will see the signups, and only relevant information will go to the person getting a gift for you, and only that person. Once the gift exchange is complete, we will delete everything.

2) Reduction of cost. There is a price cap, homemade goods will be accepted/encouraged, and Avocados will be lumped together by regions of the globe so as to cut shipping costs and keep shipping within national borders as much as possible. If finances are less of an issue for you and you’re chuffed by the idea of sending a package from New York to Sydney, please consider opting to ship internationally should the need arise. That said, if you’re a non-US Avocado, don’t hesitate to sign up – the more of you that do, the fewer people I have to beg to pay international shipping fees. That, or people might just opt to send you a gift card via email.

3) LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP FOR EVERYONE! It’s always nice to feel like you’re a part of a community, but in a community as large as this one, there’s always a chance you might get paired with someone you don’t know very well. To that end, there will be a section to include things you like or are interested in if you choose. That said, let’s keep it purely friendly – no romantic overtones, no professions of love written and folded into the pages of a book. I know there are some crushes out there, but unless you’re somehow paired with a user you’re actually dating, let’s keep it platonic. We want this to be fun, not awkward.

If there is, unfortunately, someone you would not be comfortable giving a gift to/receiving a gift from under any circumstances, there will be a place to note that and I am the only one who will ever see it. While we ask that you take the time to consider these exceptions carefully, we don’t want someone to feel uncomfortable participating because they’re worried about someone they have a bad relationship with here knowing their address. Once names are drawn, there will be no “swapping” or reassigning of names.

General reminders/suggestions:

  • Avocados shipping across the US/Canada border need to plan to ship like they would to somewhere overseas. Add at least two weeks to whatever you’d had planned. I know they seem close but the Mail Mooses are sloooow.
  • If you reside in a country that has a history of customs issues or losing packages, please either opt to receive a digital gift, or do your best to provide delivery instructions with the level of detail necessary to minimize the chance it’ll get lost. It’s a real bummer for your gifter when their package fails to be delivered through no fault of their own.
  • If you’re opting for digital only, or even if you’re not, consider including a range of dates or date guidelines that generally work for you in your Gift restrictions/specifications section — one great digital gift option is digital tickets to an event (generally all that’s needed for those is an email address to send the tickets to), but the biggest point of concern for gifters on that is getting something on a date that doesn’t work for the giftee.
Shipping Calculators

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Leave ’em below

Questions or concerns you wish to voice privately?
Email avocadogiftexchange (at) gmail (dot) com.