Cocktail Mary owner Isaac MacDougal talks to patrons in this 2021 photo from our archives. Derek Davis/Staff photographer

Cocktail Mary recently launched a month-long campaign to raise $100,000 so that it can move to a larger venue in 2025.

Cocktail Mary founder Isaac MacDougal announced the campaign kickoff Monday on Cocktail Mary’s Instagram page, and said it pulled in $2,000 in its first 12 hours. Fundraising will continue until Dec. 25.

The queer craft cocktail bar takes up just 800 square feet at 229 Congress St. in Portland.

“It’s really just too small of a space,” MacDougal said, noting that it also only has one bathroom. “We need a little bit more space, especially for the dance parties we’ve been having, which have been so lovely, but just really packed.”

MacDougal said he will keep Cocktail Mary in Portland and is hoping to double or triple the bar’s space, depending how much money they’re able to raise. MacDougal is using NuMarket, the Boston-based crowdfunding platform that caters to food-and-beverage businesses.

Under the NuMarket system, contributors receive 120% of their investment back, paid in six monthly installments of store credits that never expire. Sissle & Daughters Coffee, Wine Bar & Grocer and Vietnamese restaurant Cong Tu Bot recently used NuMarket to fund buildouts.

“A lot of our customers are a little lower income, but they do spend money at the bar. So they can buy into this and essentially have a tab at the bar when we open,” MacDougal said. “It’s actually a low-barrier way for people to invest in the business with return, sort of a win-win for everybody.”

MacDougal hopes Cocktail Mary will be able to relocate by early summer. The bar has been serving and supporting the local LGBTQ+ community since launching on Congress Street five years ago.

“It’s a particularly important time for places like this, where community can come together and feel safe and seen,” MacDougal said. “Fortifying local organizations that support marginalized communities is important right now.”