Estate agents: Gifts to SDSU that can leave a legacy

“We’ll take them.”

That’s Mark Jones on a visit to Viejas Arena in a marketing event for season tickets some 20 years ago, after being escorted down, down, down the steep stairs of section V until he’s within shouting distance of the Aztecs bench. 

Jones, a 2009 MBA graduate of San Diego State University and now with his brother Dean Jones a new participant in the university’s planned giving program, had been a huge University of Virginia basketball fan, driving two and a half hours from Rockville, Maryland, to Charlottesville and back for games, before moving to San Diego where he discovered great seating to be more affordable for a level of college basketball play he considered entirely comparable to that of the ACC. Hence the interest in Aztecs season tickets.

“I wind up in the second row and I go, you gotta be kidding me,” he recalled in an interview over Zoom while wearing a white Aztecs SD interlock cap. “These seats are available? We’ll take them.”

The brothers have held them ever since: two tickets at first, now five.

August is National Make-a-Will Month, a time to think about estate planning. For SDSU, the Jones brothers agreed to discuss their love of the Aztecs, their decision to take part in planned giving to the athletics program and their pledge of contributions that may not be seen for decades to come. They’re both still working, although hovering around the traditional retirement age.

“This is an easy way to do it because it doesn’t have to be provided immediately,” said Dean Jones, who graduated from SDSU in 1982 with a degree in business marketing and went into business selling government-insured reverse mortgages. “It’s something that’s part of my estate.”

Some points to know about planned giving:

• The agreements are flexible. They can be changed at any time.
• Donors can designate any college, department or program for their gift.
• Donors become members of the SDSU Heritage Society, which includes an invite to an annual appreciation event and additional recognition. In the case of an athletics gift, as with the Jones brothers, they’re placed in the Coryell Legacy Society, named for the famed Aztecs and Chargers head coach.

SDSU’s associate vice president for planned giving and estate administration, Amy Walling, said legacy gifts are instrumental in driving SDSU’s continued growth.

“Through the generosity and foresight of our donors, SDSU has been able to secure a vibrant future for generations to come,” Walling said. “The substantial contributions received have enabled us to expand scholarships, invest in research and faculty development and much more.” 

Mark Jones, whose company connects food trucks with customers in San Diego and a growing number of other cities, said he and his brother have been to every Mountain West Conference tournament since 2002. He remembers storming the court in Las Vegas after SDSU’s upset win over tournament host UNLV, 78-75, a day after beating top seed Wyoming.

“It was awesome,”he said.

They’ve already penciled in a trip to Las Vegas for the new eight-team college basketball tournament being held Thanksgiving week, where SDSU is playing in an eight-team NIL collective.

They attended Aztec football games at the now-demolished city-owned stadium in Mission Valley as well, and Dean Jones said “it was just a natural” to continue with season tickets at Snapdragon Dragon on the same site, part of SDSU Mission Valley. They’ve been there since Day One as part of a group of eight in the premium Club section.

To Dean Jones, the planned gift is a way to show how big a part in their lives the athletics program has represented.

“It’s a way for us to give back,” he said, “to provide funds as a pledge to make a difference to some degree with the university and with the athletic program and the students involved there.”

“It was kind of a no-brainer,” Mark Jones added. 

Nick DiPaola, associate athletic director for development at SDSU, said planned gifts “make enduring commitments that will establish a foundation of success for future generations of Aztecs.”

“Now more than ever, philanthropy is needed to operate our athletic programs at the highest level,” DiPaola said.

Both Mark and Dean Jones said they hope their planned gifts inspire others to do likewise.

Join SDSU in recognizing National Make a Will Month. To create your own will at no cost, visit www.freewill.com/sdsu. For more information, please contact Amy Walling at [email protected] or (619) 594-0286.