I have most of the Active players currently listed here as my Neighbors, and for the most part it has worked out fabulously well.
However, I consistently get only 1 gift from a visit to Sim140. Only today did I receive 2 instead of the usual 1.
I am also consistently receiving 3 gifts per day from several of the other Active players.
At the same time, I have some Neighbors who have not progressed past Level 8, and who I suspect have stopped playing, yet I still receive 4 gifts each time I visit them.
So I am thinking that maybe the number of gifts from a Neighbor is based upon how many other Neighbors that player has. I.e. there may be a fixed number of gifts to go around, so the more Neighbors you have, the fewer gifts they each receive on their daily visit.
This is my guess, but the only way to prove it is to have people post their Kiwi ID here, and the number of Neighbors they have. Then, those of us who visit you can see if there is a pattern based on the number of Neighbors.
My ID is Gideon001 and I have 15 Neighbors.
As an aside, I don't see the point in having more Neighbors, so long as the ones I have are Active. I only need 3 per day (maximum) to gift me what I request. Anything above that is wasted.