Faculty Profile

Nick Balcer

Major Gift Officer

Biography

I am originally from the west side of Michigan, growing up in Hudsonville and attending Unity Christian High School. After Unity I studied finance at Grand Valley State University, graduating in 2013. I spent a little more than a year in the financial planning industry before moving into non-profit work. For 4 years I worked in development, communications, and alumni at Unity Christian High School. I then spent about a year at Christian Schools International working in advancement and curriculum.
 
I started working at Spring Arbor in April of 2019 as Major Gift Officer. I focus on fundraising, business development, and alumni with most of my work focusing on the greater West Michigan area as well as outside the State of Michigan. My 2 sisters are both SAU alumna, Shannon (2016) and Bethany (2019), and both played soccer here. Shannon is now the head womens soccer coach. 
 
Outside of SAU, I am a professional soccer referee in Major League Soccer and a collegiate soccer official for the NCAA. I also race road bikes as an amateur cyclist. I am a huge coffee enthusiast, love traveling, and enjoy getting out to Colorado and the West Coast for hiking. My wife Audra works as the Chair of the Biology Department here at SAU and we live in downtown Jackson. 

Education

Grand Valley State University: Finance 

Why SAU

I love getting to spend time with people who are passionate about Spring Arbor University. On a daily basis I get to have conversations with people who derive a lot of joy in being philanthropic and wanting to harness that at SAU to help our students succeed in a multitude of ways.