Success Story
Turning Play into Purpose: How Takk Uses Gamification to Power Nonprofit Growth
Not-for-profit organisations face a harsh paradox: the need for support is rising, but attention spans and budgets are shrinking.Using different gamification campaigns, Takk helps people do good by connecting them with good causes. In doing so they empower their partner non-profits to turn engagement into action, generating thousands of leads and long-term donors who continuously support their causes.
Originating in Iceland and rooted in the Nordic fundraising environment, Takk offers a smarter way for charities to build and grow thriving donor communities. Takk connects people with causes they care about, by creating a platform that replaces traditional outreach with playful, purpose-driven experiences, making it easier for individuals to discover causes they care about and take action.
The global demand for humanitarian aid is rising, but the tools for meeting it must evolve. Fortunately, the digital era presents fresh opportunities to engage at scale and Takk is at the forefront, proving that when fundraising is done right, it doesn’t have to feel like fundraising.
Gamified campaigns changed everything. With interactive formats and built-in lead and donation forms, Takk began attracting people who chose to engage. And it showed: follow-up conversion rates jumped to nearly 20% – a 4x improvement. Andri Arnason, CEO at Takk
Gamified campaigns changed everything. With interactive formats and built-in lead and donation forms, Takk began attracting people who chose to engage. And it showed: follow-up conversion rates jumped to nearly 20% – a 4x improvement.
Andri Arnason, CEO at Takk
For years, Takk relied on traditional cold calling, but the results weren’t promising. Only about 3-5% of contacts converted to monthly donors, and privacy laws made outreach increasingly difficult.
So, they flipped the model: what if people came to the cause interested, informed, and ready to act?
By replacing cold calls with games that educate and invite participation, Takk turned the donor journey into something far more: a conversation rooted in values and genuine curiosity.
“We provide our customers with access to various resources to help their charities grow. We like using Playable for its high level of customization and versatility. The platform offers a wide range of game types, allowing us to tailor each campaign to the specific needs of the charity or organization we’re working with. For some causes, a wheel of fortune or slice it game is a great way to engage potential donors, while for more serious topics, an educational quiz is the perfect fit. Playable gives us the flexibility to choose the most effective concept for each client. While investing in these campaigns they both produce leads of interested people and play an important role in educating people on the issue in question.” Kristín Jezorski, Head of Marketing at Takk
“We provide our customers with access to various resources to help their charities grow. We like using Playable for its high level of customization and versatility. The platform offers a wide range of game types, allowing us to tailor each campaign to the specific needs of the charity or organization we’re working with. For some causes, a wheel of fortune or slice it game is a great way to engage potential donors, while for more serious topics, an educational quiz is the perfect fit. Playable gives us the flexibility to choose the most effective concept for each client. While investing in these campaigns they both produce leads of interested people and play an important role in educating people on the issue in question.”
Kristín Jezorski, Head of Marketing at Takk
Let’s explore how Takk uses gamification to convey the ideas of their partner NGOs while educating, engaging, and encouraging action.
Takk designed a playful holiday quiz for DepressionsForeningen, the Danish association supporting people with depression and bipolar disorder. The goal? Help people reflect on what truly matters during the holidays while gently opening the door to a deeper cause.
Participants answered 9 light-hearted questions about their holiday habits to discover their unique Christmas personality: from Traditional Hygge Troll to Festive Glitter Bomb to Christmas-Weary Soul. Before seeing their result, they were invited to join a giveaway for cinema tickets and ice cream, by submitting their name, email, and phone number.
That simple step has 2 benefits: it generated leads from people that now knew more about the mission, and it gave DepressionsForeningen permission to follow up with more information about what they do and how they do good for a large group of people.
After the quiz, participants saw a short intro to the organization’s work and a clear call to action to become a donor.
What started as a fun, low-barrier experience ended with people connecting with a mental health cause and taking a step toward donation. In Takk’s playbook the value of a lead isn’t only defined by whether someone becomes a regular donor. If someone shows interest, and we respond by offering meaningful and timely content, those with genuine interest tend to stay engaged. Over time, they may contribute in many ways, through donation, buying a product, by sharing a campaign or by positively influencing others. The right follow-up can turn interest into a valuable connection.
This quiz enabled Takk to help DepressionsForeningen to bring awareness and support to mental health.
4.413Sessions
939New Leads
21%Registration Rate
The Icelandic Cancer Society achieved impressive results thanks to Takk and marketing gamification that supported all three phases of their annual Pink Ribbon campaign.
Phase 1: Pink Ribbon Timeline Game
To kick off the campaign, Takk launched the Pink Ribbon Timeline, a memory-style game where participants arranged past Pink Ribbons in chronological order. After playing, users were directed to purchase the current year’s Pink Ribbon and were invited to submit their contact details, building a strong lead list.
18.458Sessions
5.874New Leads
35.7%Conversion Rate
Phase 2: Educational Wellness Quiz
The second phase centered on this year’s campaign theme: the role of loved ones in the fight against cancer. Takk created a thoughtful quiz to highlight ways supporters can care for themselves while supporting someone with a cancer diagnosis. This drove engagement while directing people toward valuable educational content.
Phase 3: Pink Wheel of Fortune
To wrap up, Takk launched the Pink Wheel of Fortune—a prize-based game featuring gifts donated by corporate sponsors, from lip balm to spa vouchers. It turned fundraising into an interactive, rewarding experience. It also helped promote Pink Day—a day when individuals and workplaces show their support—while raising awareness for breast cancer and recognizing the businesses backing the cause.
18.278Sessions
11.295New Leads
78.1%Conversion Rate
Gamification turned passive interest into active participation, and participation into lasting support. Across all three phases, the campaign generated nearly 17,000 leads. With the help of Takk’s onboarding team through talk and digital, 808 of those leads became monthly donors, contributing to a projected €1,000,000+ in lifetime value for the Cancer Society.
After analysing their campaigns, Takk discovered that educational quizzes are particularly effective for lead generation. This success also comes from the value these quizzes provide, people benefit from learning something new about important topics. Win-Win.
One of Takk’s most impactful campaigns was an educational quiz on domestic violence, created for Women’s Shelter Iceland. Participants started by filling out a lead form, providing their contact details and agreeing to receive updates, whether about prize notifications or ways to support the organization’s mission.
This campaign uniquely combined two gamification elements. First, a priority puzzle challenged participants to correctly arrange the stages of domestic violence in chronological order. Then, a four-question multiple-choice quiz deepened their understanding, with each answer followed by a detailed explanation.
Beyond engagement, this campaign served a crucial educational purpose; helping participants recognize the signs and stages of domestic violence. At the end of the experience, the Women’s Shelter encouraged people to explore available resources. A clear call to action also invited participants to support the shelter’s work through donations, turning awareness into real impact.
12.380Sessions
3.396New Leads
38%Conversion Rate
Takk recognizes the importance of a “lighter, more engaging approach” in this sector that often deals with heavy issues. That’s why they turned to gamification for generating leads and transforming them into long-term supporters of the causes they care about. With each campaign bringing in thousands of leads, Takk is happy with how Playable empowers their partner charities to grow donor communities.At Takk, they believe that real impact begins when interest turns into commitment. Generating leads and sparking curiosity is only the first step. The true challenge, and opportunity, is in building lasting relationships that empower people to support causes they care about. In the past year alone, Takk’s onboarding team helped over 25,000 individuals become monthly donors. From the initial spark of interest, they guided them through a journey of meaningful engagement; ultimately giving them the opportunity to actively contribute to the inspiring work our nonprofit partners lead every day.
Takk isn’t just playing games—they’re building the future of donor engagement.
Next up? Smarter personalization, powered by AI. By combining gamification with intelligent data models, Takk will tailor content, timing, and messaging to match each donor’s journey, boosting not just conversions, but connection.
For nonprofits, this means more than just clicks and contacts. It means sustainable growth, higher lifetime value, and a donor community that doesn’t just give, but stays.
If your organization is ready to turn interest into impact, and supporters into superfans, Takk is the partner to help people do good.
“We’re not here to sell a cause, we’re here to find the people who already care and give them a way in. Every mission has a community waiting to act. The hard part is cutting through the noise to reach them. That’s where Takk comes in, helping people do good!“ Andri Arnason from Takk
“We’re not here to sell a cause, we’re here to find the people who already care and give them a way in. Every mission has a community waiting to act. The hard part is cutting through the noise to reach them. That’s where Takk comes in, helping people do good!“
Andri Arnason from Takk
Blush is breaking taboos and achieving great marketing results one gamification campaign at a time.
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