How to say no gracefully to the Secret Santa gift exchange at work ?

Lost: How to say no gracefully to the Secret Santa gift exchange at work ?
I do not want to participate in the office Secret Santa gift exchange at work.They are already setting the amount to spend at $ 50.00 ! That is more than I can spend on some relatives and close friends ( way more ! ) When I suggested setting it at less,they said all you get for under $ 50.00 is junk !

Answers and Views:

Answer by thornezoo
Just send a confidential email to the person organizing the exchange and tell them you choose to opt out of it for personal reasons. In a work environment, they can not question you what those personal reasons are because it’s breech of confidentiality. If they harrass you about it, tell your HR person that you don’t feel you should be singled out.

$ 50 is excessive for a Secret Santa in my opinion. All you ever get is booze and lottery tickets anyway!

Or, if it makes you feel better, make a $ 50 donation to a charity in honor of someone. Then you get a tax write off and still participate!

Answer by Britannic Boy
Conveniently convert to islam for the holiday.

Answer by billy25685
50 bucks is quite a bit for coworkers. Try scheduling a vacation that week so you have an excuse to not participate.

Answer by quietfive
$ 50!!! And it’s barely AUGUST
I would want out too.
Hard to believe that there aren’t other people who feel the same way.
I wouldn’t be graceful. I would just straight up say “I am not in a position to participate”
And I wouldn’t say anything else about it.

Answer by GerberaChic
I’ll bet you aren’t the only person at your work that feels the same way but there are a lot of people out there that, instead of standing up for themselves, go with the flow so they don’t rock the boat.

$ 50 is ridiculous. I’ve never heard of a SS over $ 10. Where I work right now, the director made a point of telling everyone in an informal meeting that if we were uncomfortable with an event, that we had the option to not participate and that it would be totally acceptable. So, I think the general attitude of these ‘events’ comes from the top and you need to think of a clever way of getting out of it.

How about posting an anonymous, polite, sign-up sheet in the lunch room or common meeting area, that indicates that people NOT wanting to participate in the SS should sign here. It doesn’t matter if anyone signs up or not, mngt will get the message. If that doesn’t work, then approach your manager and flat out tell them that you are going through a particularly ‘bad’ year and cannot participate though it (breaks your heart) to not be able to this year.

Answer by eightieschic
I would openly and honestly say, “Yo, dudes, that is waaaaaaaaaay over my budget so count me out!” And leave it at that.

Answer by Spindrift
I have long been an outspoken advocate AGAINST ALL office bullying for money, office begging, I find it outrageous and forces people who cannot afford it to fork over money they really need to live on. You tell them, as I finally did, that you cannot AFFORD ANY amount re “secret Santa” it is just an abuse of power and no decent office should permit this.
I had anniversaries, going away, get well, weddings, babies, birthdays, you name it we had it and finally after I was forced to give money for a gift for someone who was leaving who I disliked, I ended it, and gave no more for anything ever, incl the little pizza parties they gave.

Answer by 304980
Just say..i,m going to pass this year..maybe next. ….do people always follow the guidelines? an associate received a gift that was obviously from a dollar store. she looked at the gift..smashed it to the floor and ran crying….also i have seen some pricey victoria secret items and more pricy items cuz that person liked the gift recipient….it sounds bad huh! i got under wear one year but..i had a guy cry and put his arms around me..a nice middle aged chinese cuban….i now say..not this year,thank you.

Answer by theacrob
“I would prefer not to participate, but thank you for the opportunity.”

Answer by l
You could say “It’s too much money for me, count me out!”

Answer by xaxorm
You don’t need to refuse at all. You simply don’t take part. I do think that is too much money. Make sure to take part in any other holiday celebrations in some way though, both for reasons of social etiquette and professional courtesy and practical politics. Make some punch, give out cards, something less spendy that takes some effort will be appreciated.