When you offer a gift card, you also offer freedom to its recipient to start their subscription whenever they want. The gift card is valid for one year.
The first Box sent will be the one associated to the month the recipient activates their subscription, subject to availability.
For example, if you purchase a gift card on December 24th2019 and you offer it to your friend for Christmas, they can activate their card whenever they want, up until December 23rd2020. If they decide to activate their subscription on February 6th2020, their first Box will be the February Box.