From experience doing something similar, you may find you actually get better participation rates if you give away doughnuts or canned drinks or something, for the following reasons:
People are more familiar with the idea of a product give-away.
The physical things are visible and draw attention.
The reward is more tangible/exciting than straight money (especially if you are considering lower values like $1 or $2.
In terms of benefits to you:
Less paperwork/liability for you than giving cash to strangers, and cheaper, as you’ve mentioned.
From experience doing something similar, you may find you actually get better participation rates if you give away doughnuts or canned drinks or something, for the following reasons:
People are more familiar with the idea of a product give-away.
The physical things are visible and draw attention.
The reward is more tangible/exciting than straight money (especially if you are considering lower values like $1 or $2.
In terms of benefits to you:
Less paperwork/liability for you than giving cash to strangers, and cheaper, as you’ve mentioned.