Lake Forest Council doubles funding for Shop & Dine BOGO gift-card program

The Lake Forest City Council on Dec. 3 unanimously approved doubling funding for Phase 10 of the Shop & Dine “BOGO” community gift-card program, increasing the phase allocation from $565,000 to $1,130,000.

Economic Development Manager Adrian Grohjalva told the council the program, administered by Yifty Inc., has enrolled 127 local businesses and sold roughly 89,000 gift cards across phases 1–8. Grohjalva said purchased cards total about $4.3 million in value with 88% redeemed, and bonus cards total roughly $4.3 million with about 96% redeemed. He said Phase 9, launched Nov. 19, sold out in about six and a half hours and produced unusually high concurrent demand on the vendor’s website.

The council’s approval follows a staff recommendation to authorize the city manager to sign a revised quick-start agreement with Yifty and to adopt a resolution amending Fiscal Year 2024–25 appropriations. Councillors discussed several operational changes recommended by staff and Yifty to reduce fraud and improve access, including a vendor-side block on buyers who attempt to purchase more than the program limit.

Why it matters: the BOGO program uses federal COVID-relief (ARPA) funds to stimulate local spending by matching consumer purchases with bonus gift cards redeemable only at participating Lake Forest businesses. Council members said they view the program as a tool to drive customers to local merchants and extend pandemic-era economic support to businesses.

Council debate and changes: discussion centered on demand management, fraud prevention and equity of access. Grohjalva noted that in Phase 9 there were more than 16,000 simultaneous attempts to access the Yifty site and that the vendor paused purchases for about one hour to manage load. Yifty’s CEO Donna (on the conference line) told the council the company had quadrupled server capacity and added a secondary, in-memory database after Phase 9.

Several council members opposed punitive consequences for accidental rule violations (for example, spouses using the same credit card), but some said stronger enforcement was warranted for apparent gaming of the system. Grohjalva and Yifty representatives said their system automatically rejects many duplicate attempts and that remaining suspect purchases undergo manual review. Yifty can block individuals from buying in future phases; staff proposed a site notice warning that violating purchase rules could lead to restriction.

Council Member Pacqueno and Mayor Pro Tem moved to double the Phase 10 allocation to $1,130,000 and to adopt staff recommendations; the motion included directing staff to finalize agreement language reflecting the increased amount. The motion passed unanimously.

Program mechanics and next steps: staff recommended limiting one matching bonus card per person for Phase 10; Grohjalva reiterated that bonus cards expire in six months while purchased cards do not. Council directed staff to proceed with the revised agreement and appropriation and asked the audit committee to reconvene after the next releases to review results and any additional operational changes.

Quotes: “Phase 9 went live at 9 a.m. on Nov. 19 and sold out in approximately six and a half hours,” Grohjalva said. Donna of Yifty told the council, “We’ll absolutely bend over backwards to make sure that your residents are happy with the program, and that your merchants are very happy with it as well.”

The council’s action authorizes staff to finalize the contract amendment and appropriate funds for Phase 10; staff said three additional phases (up to Phase 13) remain planned in the current program timeline.