Tips for working for tips!

Great stuff. I was a bartender for a long time where I worked for a wage plus "tips." Usually the wage is a joke and everything you said about tips is spot on. I'd serve the beer, make change and most of the time when I turned to go, I'd hear the loud clink of .50 cents hitting the jar. I knew what happened and I'd turn, smile and say thank you and they looked VERY proud of their self. Being a bartender, you get customers who, the more you verbally abuse them, the more they like you.
I decided to conduct my own experiment and told people if I heard change hit the jar they were getting served last for the rest of the night. If I saw my tip jar fill with bills, they'd be first and more taken care of. Of course I didn't word it like that but it worked. I made exactly 144.00 more dollars than my average that night. After that customers would harass each other when they heard change hit the jar and I never had to say another word. This was for my regulars of course.
Anyway, thanks for sharing. I'm going to implement the term donation rather than tip. As a person who's income depended almost solely on what people gave from their pockets, I can almost assure you it's going to be more profitable than a tip jar.

Great info. What do you charge for private parties and how long do you stay?
x$ per x hours
x$ per day (day consists of x hours)(extra charge to stay longer than the allotted time)
Thanks in advance for your answers.

It really depends on your area, Jeanette. Google for face painters local to you- not all have their prices posted, but some should. Look at their skill level, and see if they say about how many faces you can expect to be done in an hour, to see how price matches up with skill.

This was a great read! Thank you! I'm on here today after making a mistake with a "tipping event" yesterday. Donation, that's the word! This is my first year painting for the general public, so I'm trying not to beat myself up too bad and allow for these learning experiences. So here's my regular gig:
I work regularly on Friday nights at a pizza place with a patio and playground. The deal we have is, regardless of the crowd, a 3 hour set-up (indoors if bad weather) of painting, and I get comped family dinner take-out, or eat in. This place is pricey, so it's a $60 bill easy. If it's a busy night, they will even have a glass of wine waiting for me. I've also had parents tip me in wine when they have no cash . My tip jar is a bird cage with battery powered lights, seeded with $5's and $10's, with a hook that is hooked around the arm of the chair. It's very pretty and really obvious. No one is walking off with that sucker. A good night is $100+. Regardless, I get dinner so it's a great deal for me. If it's slow, I always have my practice boards with me. I get a few private parties a month from customers.
Yesterday: A patron of the pizza place got my number and invited me to paint for a few hours at their craw-fish boil at an outdoor/food truck/playground type place for tips. I made $72. Mistake: She didn't include food, there was no shade (told there was) and I didn't take my canopy $%^#. After repeatedly explaining that no, tips doesn't mean free, it was a bunch of kids who each brought up a $1 bill, or a $5 and wanted $4 back. The donation word/sign will be used in the future, because the owners were happy with me and want me back for other events. My mistake, but now I know and it makes me appreciate my Friday night gig that much more.
Also, a lot of people don't carry cash anymore. So, I also take PayPal with that handy "send money" on the app.

I can understand that "tips" may not be the best word, but a donation is for a charity, and I am not one. What are other words that people use successfully? I have a restaurant gig coming up where they pay half my usual rate and I get a meal and tips, and I want to maximize that.

How about "Recommended Contribution of $3-5" or something similar?

What about "Suggested Gratuity"? There's something about the word gratuity that means "required payment", to me.