Volunteer – Winner

 Renee Dobbins Anderson
Vice chairman and campaign co-chairman,
Gaillard Performance Hall Foundation

The Gaillard Performance Hall Foundation is tasked with raising the private share ($71 million) of the $142 million required to renovate the existing Gaillard Municipal Auditorium. As a member of the board of directors, Anderson’s role is management and fiduciary oversight. Anderson moved to Charleston in 2003 after spending 38 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, working in both the academic and professional fundraising areas. Anderson also shares her fundraising expertise with the College of Charleston as a member of its foundation board to plan and develop fundraising campaigns.

How have you made an impact on your community? I think that giving back is every person’s opportunity to have an impact, to make a difference in one’s community. So whether in Chapel Hill for the University of North Carolina or in Charleston with the Gaillard Performance Hall Foundation, the College of Charleston, the Charleston Horticultural Society or other institutions with which I am involved, the only impact I am able to claim is dedication of passion, attention to the best and highest goals of an organization and true collaboration. This is my aspiration and my hope for impact.

What is the best career advice you’ve ever been given? Regarding philanthropy, it was less actual career advice but the example set by colleagues and dedicated volunteers who put the organization or the cause before themselves, who shared the philosophy that true philanthropy is donor-centric and donor driven, and who let me experience the joy that comes from bringing people and organizations together for tremendous good.