In September 2014, Josh Nuss was hired as executive director of the Iowa chapter of the ALS Association, just as the organization was wrapping up its innovative online fundraising effort, the Ice Bucket Challenge. Prior to this position, Nuss served as regional director of events and donor communications for the American Red Cross in Des Moines. He has more than 10 years of experience in nonprofit management, fundraising and event planning and has previously worked for WesleyLife in Johnston and the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Iowa in Cedar Rapids. 

For the ALS Association, Nuss oversees a five-person staff that serves Iowans with Lou Gehrig’s disease – also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – and their families. The progressive neurodegenerative disease attacks nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.  

How significant was the Ice Bucket Challenge for the organization?

Overall, I think it was about $115 million that was raised across the country. So they’ve been receiving a lot of proposals for grants for research projects. And the (added) awareness, of course … so many of our patients maybe don’t feel so alone; people know about the disease and what it does and how devastating it is not only to the patient but to their family and caregivers. I think ALS was searched last year more than in the last 10 years according to Google, so that’s pretty cool. Locally, we had a huge boost in our donations as well, especially in that time frame. … Our four walks this past year raised over $650,000; the original goal was $500,000. What that has enabled us to do is provide even more services to the families that we serve. 

About how many families are served in Iowa? 

Currently we’re serving right around 200 families in Iowa, and that has gone up from about 160 this past summer. Then the Ice Bucket Challenge happened and we started getting more referrals and more people heard about us and called us to get registered with the association. So our care services team has been burning it on both ends, which is why we’re looking to add another care services person. It’s really going to enable us to see what we can do even more for the people that we serve. 

What are some other major goals for the Iowa chapter this year? 

Another goal is to develop an ALS-specific clinic here in Iowa. The University of Iowa already has an ALS clinic with another organization; the university has asked us to come in and be a part of that. That’s still kind of a work in progress. We’re looking to develop one here in Des Moines as well. It will be a multidisciplinary clinic; the patient would go to that clinic and all the specialists would come to them, whatever they need based on the progression of their disease. What we have found is that whenever patients attend a clinic, it does improve their quality of life and usually extends their life expectancy as well. So that’s a pretty big initiative for us. 

How did you first get involved with nonprofits? 

I started in direct sales in college and then worked into a management position. I really enjoyed being a manager and managing people, so that’s where that piece started. As far as the nonprofit side, honestly, I just applied for a nonprofit job. I always wanted to do something where it was more than a paycheck and where I could feel I was making a difference, so that’s why I stuck with nonprofits. 

Hobbies you enjoy? 

I love hanging out with my kids and being involved with their school. I coach their rec softball team, which I get a huge kick out of. I personally love playing tennis and golf and softball, but being with family is probably the thing I enjoy the most. I’m able to be a kid again – I can play tag and hide and seek, and all those things you loved doing as a kid. 

What else is on your mind? 

A lot of people keep asking us, you can’t do the Ice Bucket Challenge again, right? Because it started so organically. But the guys who started the Ice Bucket Challenge, Pete Frates, Pat Quinn and Tony Senerchia – who all have ALS and are in their 20s and 30s – when someone says to them you can’t do it again, they just say, “Watch us.” Nationally, we just had a conference in Tampa, and those guys were there to talk to us, which was very moving, very motivating to see them. … So you’ll see what we do – and we hope everybody will keep their ice buckets full this summer.