to people writing me a letter of recommendation for grad school, so I've considered asking something along the lines of "could you write this LOR for me? If that's something you're available to do, I will send you a $25 gift card as a thank you", except written more formally (all my formal writing skills are being used to write the essays right now).

I want to sincerely show my gratitude and that I don't just expect them to do this, but does that sound too much like some type of bribery?

TIA