My favorite is our Holiday Store. We run it ourselves and do not use a company. It is a lot of work but we love it and this year we have already had a slew of Moms who have asked us if they can help us with the purchasing of the items.
We order a lot of it online and then buy some stuff from stores.
Parents were happier with the prices and the merchandise and we took in $3000 which we then gave back to the kids instead of putting in the pockets of a company.
For fall, I love the Kathryn Biech(?spelling) but I don't like doing it every fall becauce it tends to be all the same stuff. In the spring, I love doing Home Interior candles because they are delivered the 1st of May in time for Mother's Day. We did have fun with JT Enterprises fundraiser this year. They offer a reward assembly and kids who sell 25 or more to to pick a ticket out of a money storm machine and this was a big push for the older kids who want money. My least favorite-anything with perishable food.
The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating-in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life. --Anne Morris