Put the cards in a box. Or buy crap and a put a card in with it. I do that a lot. Lots of people think just a gift card is too impersonal, but pair it up with a dollar store snowglobe? You went the extra mile!
Or for cash, make it funny. All change in a diaper filled with smushed up chocolate cake. Coins in a block of quick drying cement and add a tiny hammer and chisel. Put in an ornately decorated jewelry box and when they open it, just a bill of cash. The effort and laughs will make people forgive a lot.
you should rename yourself to Chaotic Neutral