An ACE Up Your Sleeve: How Leadership Competencies Influence Nonprofit Retention

Abstract

Employee retention remains a persistent challenge within the nonprofit sector, where structural constraints such as compensation limitations and funding instability contribute to workforce instability (Strub, 2020). While prior research has examined organizational and supervisory predictors of retention, limited scholarship has explored the role of internally regulated leadership competencies at the individual employee level. This study examined whether authenticity, competence, and emotional intelligence—conceptualized collectively as the ACE framework—predict turnover intention among paid nonprofit employees. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), the model proposed that these competencies align with autonomy, competence, and relatedness in ways that may influence employees’ intentions to remain with their organizations.Using a cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from 46 nonprofit employees providing direct services in the United States. Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, and multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine both the individual and combined predictive effects of the ACE dimensions on turnover intention. Results did not support the hypothesized direct relationships. Authenticity, competence, and emotional intelligence were not statistically significant predictors of turnover intention when examined individually within a multiple regression framework, nor did a standardized ACE composite account for meaningful variance in the outcome. Observed relationships were small in magnitude and nonsignificant. However, each ACE dimension demonstrated strong internal reliability, and moderate-to-strong intercorrelations among the three constructs indicated structural coherence within individuals. These findings clarify the boundaries of the ACE framework’s direct explanatory capacity with respect to retention-related cognitions in nonprofit settings. While ACE did not function as a direct predictor of turnover intention in this sample, the empirical coherence of its components supports continued examination of authenticity, competence, and emotional intelligence as an integrated constellation of internally regulated leadership capacities. By empirically evaluating an integrated model rather than isolated traits, this study contributes to leadership scholarship by refining theoretical assumptions regarding the role of internal leadership capacity in shaping organizational outcomes and by establishing a foundation for further psychometric and longitudinal investigation.