Non-profit organizations regularly host happy hours at bars throughout the city, working with bar-owners to ensure that proceeds go to the help their cause. But Peace Corps vets Nick Vilelle and Raj Ratwani wanted to take the idea a step further—they’re opening a bar that won’t make charitable giving a periodic occurrence, but rather part of the business model.

The result is Cause, a bar and restaurant in Shaw that bills itself as the city’s first “PhilanthroPub.” Located in a space on Ninth Street NW once occupied by an Italian restaurant, the bar, which officially opens next Wednesday, will donate its profits—up to $100,000 a year, hope the young owners—to four different to charitable organizations that will rotate on a quarterly basis.

Vilelle and Ratwani, who met while in grad school in George Mason, came up with the idea five years ago, but only settled on making it a reality within the last year. “Seeing everyone going out is a fun thing, but there’s a lot of need out there,” said Vilelle, explaining the genesis of the bar. “How do we somehow bring this together, to not tell people to not go out and give money to charity, but say instead go out in a way that helps other people?”

The bar spans two floors—the first features a small bar and tables, while the upstairs portion has a larger bar and more tavern-style seating. Bar stools and tables were recycled or re-purposed; stools came from the bottoms of apple barrels, tables were created from fallen trees and two second-floor pews were donated by Community Forklift. A large mosaic of the bar’s name made from the bottoms of 1,200 bottles graces the second floor’s end wall, while five paintings of social innovators—Harvey Milk, Eva Peron, Sojourner Truth, Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi—line the dining room’s wall on the first floor.

The restaurant’s menu was created by executive chef Adam Stein, who formerly worked at H Street’s Queen Vic, Wonderland, Looking Glass Lounge and Chef Geoff’s. It will feature an eclectic mix of sandwiches, hamburgers and traditional bar fare priced between $11 and $15, and include 10 daily specials sourced from local farms and purveyors priced between $17 and $28. You’ll be able to choose between Trotter Tots (pressed and fried pig feet), the LGBTQ sandwich (lettuce, bacon, beef tongue, mayonnaise and Gruyère), charcuterie boards, General Tso’s wings and snakehead fish.

A variety of beers, wines and liquors will be offered, including five cocktails that commemorate the five social innovators whose visages grace the first floor dining room. The Gandhi will feature Bombay gin and a kaffir lime-based drink and be served in a glass with a sweetened green curry rim, for one.

Mission aside, bars and restaurants come and go, and many a bar-owner will admit that they work in a non-profit industry—whether they like or not. Vilelle knows as much, but says that he and Ratwani saved on build-out costs by crowdsourcing close to $25,000—a $200 donation got someone a bar stool, while $400 got them a table—doing much of the work themselves, and saving on food costs through Stein’s connections to sellers.

All told, says Vilelle, they hope to raise $100,000 for their selected charities a year. For the first quarter, they’ve selected Higher Achievement, Common Good City Farm, Agora Partnerships, and a fourth organization that is in the process of signing the paperwork.

“Our hope is that people get excited about these organizations that we’ve researched and vetted and that are doing fantastic work,” he said, noting that patrons will be able to select which organization gets their money when they pay their bill. (Donations will not be tax-deductible, though, as the bar is currently registered as an LLC.)

“We’re not going to give away a million dollars a year, but for some of these small organizations, you give them $5,000 or $10,000, that’s a huge difference. That makes a difference for a new program, or another 50 or 100 beneficiaries,” said Vilelle. “We certainly have ambitions,” he adds. “They way Raj and I look at this, this is the pilot. This has never been done anywhere that we can see, so if it works here, great. If we can open up a second, a third then maybe we can get to a million.”

Cause is hosting a sneak preview party this Saturday—tickets are $50—and will open to the public on Wednesday, October 24 at 8 p.m. Cause is located at 1926 Ninth Street NW.