It’s not really disputed that anything an area lead approves can be donated or loaned. And that it’s not reasonable to expect people to remember whether a piece of equipment was donated, loaned or purchased if no record is kept. Anyone loaning equipment does need to have any conditions of the loan recorded so that it’s known, for example whether repairs can be done without the donor’s approval. And it’s actually very important to be able to correctly track the disposition of anything sold, given away or discarded.
If a number of people decide to pool their money and buy something that’s wanted and then donated to the space there’s nothing preventing it being treated the same as one person buying then donating the item.
Fundraising committee desire to be involved should in my opinion only be a concern when a public fundraising activity is taking place. Using our forum to arrange fundraising by a group of members doesn’t make it public fundraising and the organization isn’t risking any IRS or reputational harm by allowing the arrangement to be visible. If the board ir fundraising insists the only effect would be that people arranging to pool funds to buy something will have to be a little less visible.
That’s my personal opinion not to be taken as anything other than a prediction that people will find a way around excessive control and rules based on fear.