Turner serves on the board of trust of his alma mater, Vanderbilt University. With his sister Laura Dugas, Turner donated a
pipe organ to the
Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University. In March 2015, he donated US$1.2 million through the Cal Turner Family Foundation to endow the Turner Family Center for Social Ventures at Vanderbilt's Owen School of Management. Turner served on the board of trustees of
Fisk University, a historically black university in Nashville; the PENCIL Foundation, a non-profit organization whose aim is to improve public education in Nashville, and the
YMCA of Middle Tennessee. Additionally, he serves on the Leadership Council of the Andrews Institute, a research center at the College of Leadership and Public Service of
Lipscomb University. Through the Cal Turner Family Foundation, he donated US$3 million to build the Cal Turner Family Center, a conference center at
Meharry Medical College, a United Methodist medical school in Nashville. Additionally, he established the Cal Turner Jr. Center for Church Leadership at
Martin Methodist College, a United Methodist college in
Pulaski, Tennessee. Turner was the recipient of the Presidential Award for Private Sector Initiatives from President
Ronald Reagan in 1988. Additionally, he was awarded the Stanley S. Kresge Award from the United Methodist Higher Education Foundation. ==Personal life==