The City of Fullerton’s Local Gift Card Program began its second round of city-funded promotions, offering shoppers a 50% bonus on gift card purchases at participating local businesses.

As part of the city’s “Shop. Play. Dine. Stay.” initiative, the program currently includes 14 participating businesses, several being near the Cal State Fullerton campus. 

Shoppers can purchase digital gift cards in denominations ranging from $25 to $250, with the city adding a 50% bonus to the value of one purchase per buyer. Gift cards are limited to one per buyer, and the bonus is valid for up to one year after purchase. 

The bonuses depend on the tiers purchased, allowing shoppers to receive between a $12.50 and $125 bonus. 

Since its launch in late 2025, the program has generated $17,500 in gift card sales. This figure includes the city-funded bonus dollars and represents an estimated 100 unique buyers beyond participating businesses’ usual customer base, according to Economic Development Manager for the city of Fullerton, James Wurtz.  

The program is intended to stimulate spending at small, family-owned businesses in downtown Fullerton. 

“It’s designed to incentivize those that live in the city and outside the city to just explore the smaller mom and pop businesses,” Wurtz said. “While we love when [shoppers] frequent the national chains, my focus is really more about the mom and pop smaller businesses.”

According to Wurtz, keeping consumer dollars local is a priority for the program, with CSUF students playing an important role in supporting the city’s economy. 

CSUF’s official website reports that the university currently enrolls 45,863 students. Student spending associated with CSUF has contributed $834.4 million to the local economy, according to the CSU’s 2025 Economic Impact Study.

“Having 40,000 students plus at Cal State Fullerton every day coming through the city, whether they’re buying gas, eating lunch, doing any shopping they’re doing, it’s a huge economic driver for the city,” Wurtz said. 

The program operates in partnership with Yiftee, a digital card company that provides the technology. Donna Novitsky, co-founder and CEO of Yiftee, said Fullerton is just one of many communities that use the company as a technology provider. 

“Fullerton is one of 800 communities that we work with all over the U.S.,” Novitsky said. “It’s a really unique platform because it’s one card that you buy online, and then you could spend it anywhere at these participating merchants.”

Participating businesses range from coffee shops and restaurants to specialty retailers. Local vendors currently enrolled in the program include Pilgrim’s Coffeehouse, Mulberry St. Ristorante and Gravity Premium Service, a bike shop located on South Harbor Boulevard.

Businesses interested in participating can apply for the program through Yiftee’s Fullerton Local Gift Card portal at no cost, aside from a standard Mastercard processing fee. 

The Local Gift Card Program can also give CSUF  students an incentive to explore businesses in the surrounding community, particularly when the 50% bonus stretches their spending power, according to Novitsky. 

“No students that I know have enough money,” Novitsky said. “They could also tell their parents, ‘Hey, I have midterms coming up. It’s going to be really stressful. Why don’t you buy me a $100 card so I can take some friends out for pizza?’ So it could benefit them that way as well, and then they’ll get $150.”

For local business owners like Tullio Ceccarelli, owner of Fuoco Pizzeria Napoletana, the program’s focus on small businesses is meaningful because they depend on nearby residents.

“It’s everything to us because we’re a small business and we rely on the community,” Ceccarelli said. “We can only draw from outside the community so much.”

The pizzeria, which opened in 2012, is currently enrolled in the Local Gift Card Program. Ceccarelli noted that he has already seen some customers redeem gift cards and that this support “goes a long way” as businesses face higher costs.

Individuals interested in receiving a digital gift card for one of the participating local businesses can visit the Fullerton Gift Card portal.