"GiveSmart is one of those things that has helped make everything run smoothly for our events. How would I ever try to do this without it? I don't know. I don't want to find out."
506%
increase in luncheon revenue since 2020
$2.92
million raised through GiveSmart
$767
average sales price for 2026 auction
Mychal’s Learning Place has served youth and young adults with developmental disabilities in Hawthorne, California, since 2002. Ed Lynch founded the organization in memory of his daughter Mychal, after she passed away in 1996 at five and a half years old. Ed witnessed both what was possible for her and what remained out of reach for families like his. Since then, he has spent decades building what was missing.Â
What started as an after-school program in a church building has grown into a full community of services. Mychal’s now runs an adult day program, a café and bakery, and a print and embroidery shop. Ed Lynch, according to Page Sacks, who leads fundraising at Mychal’s, has never been one to pass on an opportunity. “See, if there’s a will, there’s a way” is how she describes his philosophy. It’s also a pretty good description of how Mychal’s operates.Â
Fundraising had always been part of how Mychal’s kept its programs going. But for a long time, several staff shared fundraising responsibilities alongside everything else they were responsible for.Â
Challenge & Solution
When Page joined in 2020, she felt there was a good foundation. “I kind of knew there would be dedicated donors that we could steward,” she said. Staff contributed to fundraising, but their time was divided. What changed was having someone dedicated to it full-time — and then building a team around that focus.Â
Alongside that, she needed tools she could trust on event day. Mychal’s runs an annual luncheon that sells out every year. Managing ticketing, seating, and a silent auction without a solid platform wasn’t something Page wanted to revisit. “I’ve seen it without it,” she said. “It was harder. Life was harder.”Â
GiveSmart makes the logistics easy, so her team can stay focused on donors.