What's the best way to give a secret gift?

Leave it somewhere, but stand guard with a periscope.

What a kind gesture. Do you have a trusted friend that he doesn’t know that could put on a Santa hat, ring his doorbell and say, “The Big Guy’s been watching. Merry Christmas.” and hand him an envelope.

I was thinking maybe you could go to his bank, talk to the manager, and have the funds deposited, but if he could probably use cash more.

Can you pop your ‘secret santa’ gift through the letterbox – after hours of course?
Is it going to be a surprise for wifey too, or can she be in on the surprise? Might make it a little easier, or as @BarnacleBill suggests, a trusted friend could help.

Your friend is having a rough time, but with thoughtful friends like you around it’s bound to make things a lot easier for him and his family. Good on you!

What a true friend you must be. your friend is fortunate to have someone in his life, like you. you will be blessed for helping your friend.

Is there any possible way you could discover his bank account number? if so, this is the safest way to make this happen. banks will take deposits from anyone for any account, as long as they have the account number. then, you can leave a plain envelope in his mailbox stating: Merry Christmas HOHOHO…......check your bank account balance.

Wife and i do this all the time to help our children, who live in Seattle.

Thanks for being a good Santa to your friend.

You can go to his bank and talk with the manager. Explain what you want to do and ask if they can check without telling you, of course, if there are loans that are in arears or have high interest payments. Tell what you want to pay and the manager will deposit it accordingly while you are there. It will remain anonymous and will help a lot.

I would say if the secret item means anything to you then you won’t tell people here on fluther. People here do not care for anyone elses feelings. I should say many of the people don’t care about others feelings.

Thanks for the answers so far….
I have only a few friends I would trust with this, unfortunately they are really busy at the moment it would take at least an hour do this
And he doesn’t have a regular door mailbox….
Um…finding out his bank info would be really hard to do…
And I don’t really want to go through the bank..I can’t verify that it was done correctly
I think cash is the best option..

@Summum…..I don’t understand

I’m with @BarnacleBill .

you have a good heart.

Is it feasable to put it in an envelope and tape it to their door? Most people have a storm door and then a regular door where I live, so I would put it on the regular door.

Good on you, @coffeenut. That’s a wonderful idea, and I’m sure your gift will be very much appreciated. I’m with the others who’ve suggested that you just drop it off at his house. I wouldn’t go through the bank, either, because your friend might just think it was some kind of bank error.

If he doesn’t have a mail slot and you can’t just leave an envelope there at night, here’s a thought: what if you were to have a seasonal floral arrangement delivered by a florist, and have the envelope included in the package rather than a regular card?

Can you hide it in his drawer, or slip it in his bag?

Maybe you can knock on his door and when he opens the door say “hey dude this envelope was taped to your door”. Make sure you tape it to the door first, that way you are not being truthful.

@AmWiser “are not lying”/“are being truthful”

I can’t help myself and I would want people to correct me too.

Tell him you feel lucky, ask him for a $1 for a lottery ticket. Take his dollar, then tell him you played an out-of-state lottery and won, and this is his share.

Tell him you’re thinking about changing banks and ask him where he banks.

Go to his house, get yourself a drink of water, put the money in an envelope, and shove it in a drawer in his kitchen.

I still like the santa thing. If I lived near you, I would make the time to be a party to doing something like that because it would make me feel good. I would not find it inconveniencing at all.

Any chance you could find an organization in your area that does this sort of thing? It just popped into my head. I’m not sure how you could go about finding one, but I think this would be the safest/most secure way of doing it. But, yeah, the world needs more people like you. Thank you for doing this!

Let us know how you end up doing this.

Teleporter beam, obviously…

I don’t have any ideas to add. You have the right idea, though. Helping out someone else. It’s wonderful to see…good on you!

update

I paid a UPS driver to make a “off the books” delivery…package marked from the north pole…lol

He called me today and told me about the great gift he received…lol no idea who it was from

@coffeenut: wonderful! You gave more than money, you gave hope.

@coffeenut , thats really great!

@coffeenut that was awesome (the gift and the way it was given).

@coffeenut – that is super cool! I’m glad you figured out a way to get the gift to your friend secretly and in such a clever way! You’re truly a great friend.

The Best way of giving a secret gift is a shocking surprise with great and unique present..