This study examined the relationship between leadership style and organizational effectiveness, including the impact of leader gender, location, and size of territory served within United Way of America. Leadership was examined through the lens of the full range of leadership developed by Avolio and Bass (2004) including transformational, transactional, and passive-avoidant leadership styles. The study was based upon an analytical methodological approach using a fixed research design with analysis based upon quantitative methods. The data was provided by a self-administered survey which included the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) testing the full range of leadership (Avolio & Bass) as well as demographic and financial questions.

The survey was distributed to a randomly selected sample of 1,000 United Way affiliates with 178 valid responses representing a response rate of 17.8% or 13.69% of the total population of 1,300. Ten individual Spearman rho correlation tests were performed resulting in the rejection of seven of the thirty null hypotheses included in the study. The study indicated that the relationship between leadership style and organizational effectiveness is most impacted by leader gender and location. Critically, while the levels of organizational effectiveness were comparable for both genders, the range of effective leadership behaviors and styles was narrower for female leaders. Further study is recommended to further clarify the impact of leader gender on the relationship between leadership style and organizational effectiveness in non-profit organizations of different size and in different regions.