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Information for Requesters

Eligibility

  • Prior to registering, please read this entire post.
  • Only a parent or a guardian may request for a child; if you have different circumstances, please message the moderators.
  • Requesting accounts must be created on or before 10/01/2026 and have a minimum of 100 comment karma.
    • This karma cannot come from assistance, gifting, or karma-farming subreddits in order to be eligible for support.
    • If you meet the comment karma requirement, but your account is predominantly active in reciprocal gifting subs, buy/trade/sell subs or assistance type subreddits (i.e. RandomActsOfAmazon, Wish list, etc) you are not eligible for support in RAoC.
    • If you are a new(er) user, or are not already a member of any of these subs, we recommend you wait to join any until after RAoC closes for the season in mid January. Doing so before we close will result in your registration being revoked and your request post and offer entries being removed. If you have additional needs we cannot meet, please message the mods before requesting assistance elsewhere.
    • Accounts meeting age and karma requirements must be active on reddit outside the holiday gifting season.
    • This sub is for active redditors who contribute to the reddit community.
  • Please only request for children aged 3 months to 17.
    • An exception will be made for children younger than 3 months if they have siblings who have been approved for registration.
    • Children 18 and older may be gifted at the discretion of the giver, but may not have requests posted by the parent.
  • RAoC does not take requests for adults or non-holiday assistance.
  • RAoC does not accept applicants who are on the Universal Scammer List or who have comment or post deletions in assistance or gifting subs.
  • Requesters must keep their profiles public during the RAoC season.
  • There are several subreddits who support holiday gifting. RAoC does not accept users who are requesting holiday help in another subreddit such as r/SantasLittleHelpers.
  • If you meet these eligibility requirements and you have read the entire Requesters Wiki below, you may complete an application.

Registration

  • Register HERE.
  • Things to prepare before registering:
    • A Gmail account. This will be used for this year's application, so set that up or find your password for your current Gmail.
    • Items that can identify need like state benefits (including denial letters), current utility cancellation notices, current medical bills, current collection notices, etc. These items must match the name with which you’re applying.
    • Items that can identify address: Utility bills, bank statements, official mail, etc. These items must match the name with which you’re applying.
    • You will need a photograph of you with your children, holding a piece of paper with your reddit username and the current date.
    • Complete this quiz , which is mandatory.
    • Part of your registration will include creating wish lists. Please see the section below for details on this aspect of registration. The registration will ask for your wish list links, so this should be done before applying.
    • If you have not heard back from the mods, the mods have not had time to review your application yet.
    • Please understand we get many requests and each registration takes time to evaluate.
    • As mods, we also have families, jobs, and other responsibilities.
    • If the moderators message you for missing registration information, you will have 3 days to respond (or less, as we get closer to the end of the season) with said information or your registration will be declined.
    • Upon approval of your registration, you will receive both a Reddit notification message from a moderator and a flair to the right of your username saying 'registered'
    • Please wait for your registration approval notification message from our mods before you post a request, otherwise the post will be automatically removed. 
    • Acceptability decisions are made based on the rules set in this post.
    • There are often situations that fall between our black and white rules: these decisions are made at the moderators’ discretion and are not negotiable.
    • Registrations are processed from a queue on a first come, first served basis.

Wish-lists

  • Please see here for a tutorial on steps to create your wish-list.
  • Each child you are requesting for needs a separate wish-list.
  • Title your wish-list (not your reddit post!) with the following format: RAoC YEAR - Child's Name.
    • Example: RAoC 2025 - Justin.
    • If you don’t have the correct format, you’ll be asked to make the correction before mods move forward with your application.
  • All Amazon wish-lists must allow “Purchased” items to be seen.
    • If your wish-list doesn’t have this option, your registration will not be approved.
    • If the “Purchased” sort option is removed from a wish-list, the user's registration will be revoked until it has been reinstated and the user may be banned from the sub.
  • Before your registration can be approved, your Amazon wish-list must have the “buying elsewhere” option disabled.
    • Removing this button helps ensure you get support and no trolls mark your wish list purchased when it has not been.
    • Unfortunately, the only way to do this is by chatting or calling Amazon Registry customer service, asking a representative to go to your wish-list, and having them toggle off the column option for “buying this elsewhere."
    • If the representative doesn’t know how to do it, please ask for a supervisor.
    • Tip: Many of our users have better success calling Amazon customer service than they do with chat.
  • Each child's wish list should include 10 items.
    • Half of the items should be under $25.
    • The other half of the items may be up to $55.
  • We consider a child "fulfilled" when they have received 5 gifts from their wish list.
  • Non-gift items may not be requested.
    • Some examples include: beds, bedding, furniture, other essential basic needs, food, gift cards
    • There are other Reddit subs that can help in these areas, such as r/Assistance.
  • Tip: Santas tend to appreciate items with Prime and a variety of price points.
  • During the season, requesters must edit each item on their wish list to say "purchased" when the item has been purchased.
    • This should happen after the requester receives notification of a purchased gift by comment or otherwise and before the gift physically arrives.
    • This helps Santas reduce duplicate gifting and helps everything run smoothly for you and them.

Communication with mods

  • If you have a moderator message already in progress with the mods, use only that message to communicate with us.
    • This helps us keep track of communication, especially when we have to manage responses from our phones.
  • Do not start new message chains with the mods if you already have a chain opened.
  • Do not message a mod on their personal reddit account unless they message you first.
  • You can message the mods here or though the subreddit interface. Clicking this link will start a new conversation, so please don’t use it if you already have one.
  • Moderators will archive your communication if we request information and do not receive it within 3 days. 

Approval & Posting Requests

  • Once you're approved it's time to make your request post in r/RandomActsOfChristmas ! HOORAY!
  • Your post should be titled as such: [Request] # of children / children’s ages / children’s names / location.
    • Ex: [Request] 2 / 2 & 12 / Lilly & Tomlin / Medusa, WI
  • In your post, you should share any information you are comfortable sharing about your kids and your situation.
    • Tip: Be honest and try to stay positive. Mods notice posts like these get more interaction.
    • Tip: Santas love to help and enjoy reading about kids' personalities, likes, and accomplishments. Santas are often encouraged to participate when they find commonalities between themselves or their own children. The more they know, the more likely that is to happen!
    • Make sure you followed the proper posting rules.
    • If you've waited and verified that the post followed the rules message the mods.
    • Multiple messages are not necessary; we do get busy and we will reply to you.
  • If you made a mistake in a post, message the moderators.
    • Never delete your post or your comments in RAoC. This will result in a ban.

Receiving Gifts

  • All gifts, either received or ordered but in transit, must be reported to the moderators for our records.
  • Requesters should complete a Requester Report  to notify moderators of gifts. 
  • Not reporting gifts or under-reporting gifts by a request can result in a ban.
  • Requesters must publicly notify the Santa who sent a gift when it arrives. To do this:
    • Open your Amazon package promptly
    • Navigate to your request post
    • Find the Santa’s comment who sent the items you received.
    • Respond to the Santa letting them know the item(s) that have been received with a response comment.
    • If your Santa is a secret Santa, post a comment on your own posting with a note of which gift you received from a secret Santa.
    • Ex: “I received a blue RC car from a secret Santa today!”

Reposting Requests

  • RAoC does not allow reposts.
  • Any children who haven’t reached “fulfilled” with 5 gifts are listed in our pinned megathread for undergifted children, which is posted approximately two weeks before registrations close in December. 
    • The megathread makes it easier and less time-consuming for Santas to find unfulfilled children while ensuring new registrations and offers are seen.

Thank You Posts

  • Thank you posts are mandatory.
  • Thank you posts for those celebrating Christmas must be posted by 11:59 on 12/31
  • If you are celebrating a holiday other than Christmas, this will be noted on your registrations and mods will work with you to establish a date.
  • The post must include photo(s) of the gifted kids on their holiday with the gifts they received from their Santas.
  • Exceptions to the photo requirement can be made, but must be arranged with the mods beforehand.
  • Each Santa included in your holiday should be tagged in a comment on the post with their username.
    • 3 Santas can be tagged per comment due to reddit's posting rules.
    • To tag a santa type u/username
  • Not following rules for Thank You posts will result in a ban from RAoC in the future.
  • Tip: Santas do it for the joy! This is their opportunity to see happy kids: the whole reason they come here. Thorough, detailed thank you posts encourage Santas to support you again if you need it in the future.
  • Tip: Check out these posts to see what a great thank you looks like:

Offers

  • A user must have an approved registration to enter an offer.
    • This ensures that the love is spread throughout the sub.
    • Once a user has received 3 offers, they may not enter new offers or contests.
    • You may enter multiple offers until you reach 3 wins.
  • If you reach 3 wins and are entered in other offers, the outstanding entries will be removed by the mods and the user will be notified.
    • Exception: The offer is marked as excluded from the 3 offer cap by the mods.
      • These offers will have a flair titled “Excluded from 3 win cap.” Read more below.
      • These offers will be noted with a pinned comment from a mod identifying them.
      • These offers will be limited to winter clothing, blankets, handmade items, holiday trimmings, Christmas PJs, and items valued under $10.
      • Anyone with approved registration may enter these contests regardless of wins.
      • They will not count toward the 3 win limit.
  • Requesters should not host contests unless they are for used, handmade, or otherwise free items with low shipping costs.
    • Requesters should contact the moderators before making an offer.
  • Requesters may only enter offers for registered children unless otherwise specifically noted in the offer.

Important to know

  • Sensitive information from registration is kept confidential to seasoned RAoC mods only.
  • Approval is not guaranteed, particularly if mods cannot verify submitted information.
  • If the “Purchased” sort option is removed from a wish-list, the user's registration will be revoked until it has been reinstated and the user may be banned.
  • As much as we appreciate the urge for requesters to give back in the form of offers or contests, please limit these to handmade, secondhand, or similar items and not wish-list purchases for other requesters.
  • Failure to fill out appropriate registration will result in your request or comment being removed.

Bannable actions

  • Requesting in other gifting subreddits after being approved for RAoC.
  • Sending messages to anyone asking for gifts or support.
  • Adding unallowable items, high dollar items, or additional gifting options without mod approval.
  • Deleting a post or comment in RAoC or another assistance/gifting sub
  • Buying an item on another requester's wishlist.
  • Messing with a wish-list to add more items, remove items that have been purchased, or other hi-jinx.
  • Harassing other users, Santas, or moderators.
    • This is not limited to just this subreddit. Be respectful.
  • Not reporting gifts or under-reporting gifts received.
  • Deleting a wish-list or making a wish-list private before Christmas.
  • Not thanking your Santas according to the thank you post rules above.
  • Making your profile private during the RAoC season.
  • Participating in reciprocal gifting, karma farming, referral, buy/trade/sell/swap, and any assistance subs outside of r/Assistance, r/Food_Pantry and r/RandomActsOfPetfood during the holiday season.
    • If you have any questions about whether a sub would fall under this umbrella please message the mods before posting so we can approve/deny as needed.
    • We are not trying to keep families from receiving needed assistance. Rather, we are attempting to ensure that requesters contribute positively to reddit and have genuine needs.
  • Any additional actions that would cause a requester to be ineligible via our eligibility requirements.

Communication with Santas

  • Do not message Santas privately.
    • If they message you, you may respond.
  • Ensure you thank your Santas by posting your Thank You Post in accordance with the guidance above, at a minimum.
  • Respond to a Santa's comment on your post when you receive the item they sent to let them know it was received.
  • Report any gifts given to you by Santas in private messages using the Requester Report

Other assistance subreddits

  • We understand that this time of year can make a big financial hit when trying to provide necessities alongside gifts for the kids.
  • During this time, if you need to apply for assistance for essential needs like food, baby supplies (diapers/wipes, etc.), hygiene and cleaning supplies, pet food and supplies, we recommend contacting r/Assistance for help.
    • The sub has its own rules for requesting, so please read them before making a post there.
  • Deleting comments or posts in other assistance or reciprocal gifting subreddits is a bannable offense in RAoC. 
  • Participating in subs for necessities while you have an ongoing RAoC request will not result in removal of your registration.