May 3, 2001 | Read Time: 3 minutes
By NICOLE LEWIS
Cocktail Charities, in Washington, has collected almost $30,000 for nearly 30
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groups in and around the nation’s capital by making it easy for bar patrons to raise money while raising a glass.
On one or two Thursday nights each month, the group arranges for a volunteer to serve drinks at a participating bar, and all the bartender’s tips benefit a local charity or civic group.
The top-grossing Cocktail Charities event, held in July, raised $2,605 for the Coaching for College Project, a group in Arlington, Va., that provides academic mentors for students at a junior high school in Washington. The average Cocktail Charities event raises $400 to $600.
Andy Miscuk, a computer consultant and former bartender who volunteers in his Washington neighborhood as a liaison to local government, started Cocktail Charities two years ago on a whim. As the idea has gained in popularity, the group has added a six-person board of directors and is applying for nonprofit status. Mr. Miscuk, with advice from guest bartenders, decides which charities will benefit from each event.
Part of Cocktail Charities’ success comes from Mr. Miscuk’s connections with local bar owners who agree to give the group a bartending shift every few months. Mr. Miscuk fills the slots with volunteers — professional bartenders, local-government officials, and friends. They encourage others to come and, Mr. Miscuk says, “watch them screw up martinis and look confused behind the bar.”
Novice bartenders receive assistance from trained ones who help serve customers promptly and handle the money. Mr. Miscuk often mixes drinks at the events himself.
Sensitive to the fact that Cocktail Charities might deny income to paid employees of the drinking establishments, Mr. Miscuk works with bar owners to coordinate his events with bartender vacations. Some bartenders also choose to donate tips during their regular shifts, he says.
From 20 to several hundred people show up at Cocktail Charities events, some because of e-mail invitations that Mr. Miscuk sends to 700 people. The e-mail messages have Internet links to the charities that benefit from the donations.
Other patrons find out about Cocktail Charity events only after showing up at the bars.
An official from the charity designated to benefit from an event comes to the bar to answer questions from patrons about the group. Several charities have gained volunteers from the events, says Mr. Miscuk.
Mr. Miscuk wants people to have a good time and tip what they choose. Some patrons leave a dollar on a $4 beer, while others buy one drink and contribute $50, Mr. Miscuk says. “It’s not an in-your-face kind of fund raising,” he says. “That’s not what we are about.”
Cocktail Charities does not solicit cash gifts from the bars because Mr. Miscuk does not want to put pressure on businesses to sell excessive amounts of alcohol at the events. Still, one establishment that participates regularly donates 10 percent of the night’s profits to the group, while another donates 30 percent of its food revenue.
Mr. Miscuk says that Cocktail Charities retains 10 percent of revenue raised at the events to pay for photocopying of fliers and other administrative expenses, and to underwrite the legal costs involved in attaining nonprofit status.
For more information, see the event’s Web site, http://www.cocktailcharities.org, or contact Cocktail Charities, 2452 18th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009; (202) 667-1488; cocktail@cocktailcharities.org.
