David La Piana shares his thoughts at Blue Avocado about this opportunity to keep it simple!

Most nonprofit organizations have too many board committees doing too little work. A typical nonprofit has several committees, such as Finance, Personnel, Development, and of course an Executive Committee. Often, when one committee malfunctions, the board appoints another. For example, when the Development Committee fails to raise funds, the board may appoint a special Annual Giving Committee to manage the yearly fund appeal. When none of this actually produces any appreciable increase in donations, the board may then charter a Major Gifts Committee to go after big donors.

Therefore, in most cases, nonprofits do better by replacing this cumbersome structure with a simple three-committee structure consisting of Internal Affairs, External Affairs, and Governance.

For the advantages and committee responsibilities, check out the rest of the article here: http://www.blueavocado.org/node/385