Can there be a separate board dedicated to fund raising?

Summary:

In some situations, a group that does nothing but fund raising may be a very useful approach.

Pat (patmec@voyager.net) wrote to NONPROFIT in January
1999:
Our nonprofit environmental coalition is considering establishing a
board-level entity separate from our Board of Directors to focus
exclusively on fund development. (Our board is comprised of folks
who
represent our member groups and therefore have their own fundraising
agendas.) Members of the 11- or 12-member "Board of Trustees" would
be
community leaders capable of giving or raising major gifts and
helping
to set our fundraising policies. Have other nonprofits done this?
Has
it been successful?

Michael L. Wyland, (michael@sumptionandwyland.com) replied
with some advice:
Yes, other groups have done this and been successful. Be sure that
your board of directors members and the proposed committee members
all
understand the role of the committee (fundraising for the group) and
do not
suffer from a lack of commitment or perceived conflict of interest.

Your board members may: 1) see the fund development people as
"stolen away" from
their (the board member's) constituent organization; and/or 2)
attempt to
recruit these people to serve their constituent organization,
depriving you of
or compromising their fund development capabilities.

Define the relative roles in advance and be sure that all parties
agree with (or
at least won't interfere with) the plan.