Marlo Turner is Bunches of Fun

INTERVIEW BY KALEB BROWN; PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANDREW KELLY; STYLING BY MARLO TURNER     PUBLISHED: DEC 1, 2025

With a penchant for color and personality to match, Marlo Turner brightens every room she’s in. As OCCF’s Director of Gift Planning, Marlo was raised with an eye on civic duty. 

Growing up in Jenks, Oklahoma, with a second-generation mayor as a father, Marlo learned early on the importance of giving back. 

“They were not paid positions at that time,” said Marlo, on her father and grandfather as mayors. “They had their daytime jobs, and they would leave work, attend council or committee meetings, attend events, really work within the community as volunteers.” 

Community connectedness bled into all areas of Marlo’s life. After school, she would go to her dad’s office. At the dinner table, her family would discuss the latest news around town. All of this led to a passion for community. 

“It really made me fall in love with the work of communities, of nonprofits and how we can all work together to make a better place for the individuals of that space.” 

When in conversation with Marlo, she lights up the most around her hobbies, like gardening or cooking, the latter driving her educational career after high school. 

“At the age of 14, I started working at my aunt and uncle’s restaurant,” she shared. “I wanted to be a chef and worked for them for a long time.” 

While culinary school wasn’t in the cards, Marlo went on to attend Oklahoma State University, where she earned a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Administration with a minor in Business. She knew how to cook but wanted to know more about the back end of a restaurant, including how payroll is managed, how to deal with insurance and understanding the daily operations of a business.

After college, Marlo moved to Rogers, Arkansas, where she got a job working for the Pinnacle Golf and Country Club. At Pinnacle, Marlo worked with “captains of industry” like the Hunt family (J.B. Hunt Trucking), the Walton family (Walmart) and the Tyson family (Tyson Foods). She would hear them talking about giving back to the community and using their resources to make change, something that would inspire her to take the next step into the fundraising space. 

“I could plan an event and set up dinner parties. That part is easy,” shared Marlo. “But then I started learning about grant writing, I started learning about talking to people, about working with them to utilize their resources for making a community impact.” 

After Pinnacle, Marlo returned to the Tulsa area, where she lent her skills and passion to organizations like the Mental Health Association in Tulsa, the Oklahoma State University Foundation and the Philbrook Museum of Art.

In 2016, Marlo had a major life change in front of her. After presenting at a conference on fundraising software, an attendee from Sarasota, Florida, sought her out. After talking and sharing dinner, Marlo’s new friend offered her a job in Florida at the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. 

“I wanted to retire there,” Marlo reminisced. “And it felt like a great way to test that out.” 

 Marlo and her family moved across the country to a community where they didn’t know anybody, but they loved it. 

“The Community Foundation was the perfect way to meet people,” Marlo said. “They have their pulse on the community; they know the needs of it and all the connections to make it happen. They worked to understand senior needs, needs for animals and the education system in that community.” 

Marlo continued that job for nearly five years, but COVID caused the Foundation to redirect critical funding to resources, removing some jobs, like Marlo’s. Fortunately, her stint in fundraising (and Florida) wasn’t at an end.

Shortly after COVID, Marlo began working at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, combining her passion for plants and foliage with her career in fundraising. 

Just a little over a year into that job, family matters brought Marlo back to Oklahoma. Luckily, Myriad Gardens in Oklahoma City was hiring for a similar position. At this job, Marlo had her first experience with the Oklahoma City Community Foundation. 

“I got to work on some amazing donations,” Marlo shared about her time with Myriad. “One was an interesting partnership with the [Oklahoma City] Community Foundation for the Mitchell’s Shade program. 

“It was a really fun part of philanthropy where a donor comes to you with an idea, you listen, and you think through ‘what is the best result for the community?’ Listening to them, we came up with a whole different idea than their original plan. We connected their passion for trees to a tree distribution program we were already doing, where people came and paid $20, $25 for a tree. They agreed to underwrite the cost of the program, so now all of the trees are free, with a thousand trees given out every April in memory of their son Mitchell, not just for OKC residents, but for across central Oklahoma. 

“They also wanted some permanency in their gift, so we worked with them to establish a grove in remembrance of Mitchell at Scissortail Park, creating a place where everyone can take advantage of sitting on the bench, looking across the lake, all while shaded by this family’s commitment to the community and love for their late son.”

Throughout her life, Marlo has seen the importance of community in giving, though she recognizes that giving is a learned behavior. 

“It comes from family values,” Marlo shared when asked about giving. “Or maybe you’ve been a recipient of the kindness of somebody. Maybe somebody brought you a casserole when you’re down, or you get a scholarship, or a way past those hard times. 

“You hear about these big gifts, and they’re inspiring. But most of the giving in the nation is from people giving $5, $50, whatever they can. It takes all of us to keep our nonprofits and key services benefitting our community.” 

As Director of Gift Planning, Marlo is all for strategy when it comes to giving. With upcoming tax law changes, she is recommending the “bunching” method when it comes to year-end giving. 

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Bunching, also called frontloading, allows you to consolidate multiple years’ worth of charitable donations into a single year to exceed the standard deduction threshold, maximizing tax benefits before new tax laws go into effect in 2026. And the best way to do this is through a Donor-Advised Fund (DAF).

Through a DAF at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, you can make your charitable contribution this year, maximize your tax savings, and continue to gift out of it over time. That way, you’re still able to support organizations as you’d like, all while taking advantage of a savvy tax-saving tool. 

“You have flexibility with a Donor-Advised Fund,” shared Marlo. “It really benefits all types of donors.” 

She shared the following scenario: 

A married couple filing jointly gets a $31,500 standard deduction in 2025. To benefit from itemizing, their deductions must exceed that amount. If they plan to give $20,000 this year and $20,000 next year, neither year clears the threshold. But by bunching both gifts into a single $40,000 contribution to a donor-advised fund, they can itemize this year for added tax benefit and take the standard deduction next year while still granting out support to nonprofits in 2026 through their DAF.

“OCCF helps donors navigate how evolving tax laws may affect their charitable goals,” said Marlo. “As the landscape changes, we’re here to help guide your giving.”

While Marlo has only been with OCCF for a short while, she’s hit the ground running, doing everything she can to ensure donors are as prepared as possible for end-of-year giving and equipped with the best giving vehicles for their needs. 

“I am one of those people who wants to get to know you,” Marlo shares. And it’s true. A natural conversationalist, she absolutely beams when in conversation with others. 

“I want to get you connected with our community and with our services,” shared Marlo, a natural connector who is prepared to work with you to ensure you have the best tools for your giving needs.

To connect with Marlo or anyone on OCCF’s Philanthropic Services team, you can call 405-235-5603, or email info@occf.org.