Wouldn’t it be nice if drinking wine was considered an act of philanthropy?  Some of us would be donors on the scale of Bill Gates or Warren Buffet.  Well, I’m happy to report that there is a cool new concept that allows caring, big-hearted wine lovers to kill two birds with one stone:  enjoy great wines and give money to a worthy cause at the same time.  Grapeful is a relatively new company that has created a unique way to use the love of wine to help charitable and other philanthropic organizations raise money.  Grapeful essentially brings two groups together: (a) those that are looking to raise money for a specific organization, cause, drive, etc., and (b) great wineries which have agreed to be a featured part of the Grapeful program.  Through its winery partners, Grapeful ensures each cause earns 15% of the retail cost of every bottle sold in support of the effort. So how does it work?  There are two models for people to raise money with Grapeful:  

The first way is to create a Grapeful order site on drinkgrapeful.com; all of the heavy-lifting in creating the site is done by the folks at Grapeful, so there are no web development or other technical skills required.  Individuals looking to raise funds would direct their friends, family, acquaintances and other potential donors to their Grapeful order site to select from a list of wines.  Each time a bottle is ordered, 15% of the retail price is directed to the selected cause; the site can be kept open indefinitely for those that have a cause that is not time-bound.  For longer fund-raising campaigns or efforts, it might be fun to create a rotating list of wineries, essentially creating a “wine of the month” club for contributors.  Most of the wineries that Grapeful partners with have a nice balance of quality and price and would be in the price range of even casual wine consumers.  For those that care about a cause, buying a wine at retail price and knowing that 15% of the cost of the wine is being directly donated to a cause they care about should be a no-brainer.

The second way to work with Grapeful to raise funds for a cause is to have a Grapeful Party at home, a restaurant or local event center.  We think of this as the wine version of the old Tupperware parties our parents had in the 1970’s (with better wine!).  The individual looking to raise money for a cause would purchase wines in advance and them invite people to the Grapeful Party.  It might be tricky to figure out how much wine to order but the Grapeful team says they can help guide the party planner plan the right number of wines to order.  Those that enjoy the wine at the party will then be directed to your Grapeful Order site to purchase wines and start generating donations.

We are intrigued by this approach to fundraising and think it is going to take off.  On the winery partner side, Grapeful has already partnered with a number of well-regarded brands, and they will be adding new partners in the future to give more options for “wine of the month.”  On the cause side, there are several causes raising money at drinkgrapeful.com now which you can donate to.  Or, you can bring your own cause forward and set up your own Grapeful Order site.

If you want to buy wines and support a cause, click here:  Grapeful Order Sites.

If you want to check out their current winery partners, click here:  Grapeful Winery Partners.

Social media mavens can find them on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @drinkgrapeful.

So in a week where we take time out of our busy lives to give thanks, think about giving back …while enjoying great tasting, great value wines!

John & Irene

November 23, 2016

• Winery Visits