Hackathon planning strategy

This resource guides you through the strategic decisions required before you begin building your hackathon page. Finalizing these details will ensure you meet your goals and get buy-in from leadership.

Happy participants are well-informed. Document these details to avoid throwing participants a curveball later.

Purpose and goals

It is vital that you establish the purpose of your hackathon and any goals you hope to accomplish. Align these goals to your internal KPIs, OKRs, or company mission to help get buy-in.

Ask yourself and your team:

  • Why is your team or organization holding this hackathon?
  • What do you want your team or organization to get out of it?
  • What does success look like for you (qualitative and quantitative goals)?

Theme or inspiration

Define what’s interesting about your hackathon from the participant’s perspective. This is the pitch that drives registration.

To define your theme:

  • Are participants helping to solve a real business problem?
  • Will they get to play with new data or technology?
  • Are they participating for fun and team camaraderie?

💡 Tip: The answers to these questions must be clear. If you can’t explain the hackathon's appeal in two or three sentences, refine your theme.

Requirements

Outline who can participate and what you want them to submit during your hackathon.

Considerations for participation:

  • Who is invited? Are there any departmental or manager-level restrictions, or is it open to the entire organization?
  • Team structure: Will you require teams, and is there a maximum number of teammates? Are teams required to be diverse in departments or functions?

Considerations for submission:

  • What to create: Build a [project]  using [tool or api]  that [theme statement] . (Example: Build a web application using React that helps make education accessible.)
  • What to submit: Avoid requiring too much. We encourage a single requirement, such as presentation slides or a short video demo. The platform allows flexibility for a participant to add more.

Time and dates

Be sure to consider how your schedule impacts participation and product quality.

  • Time zones: What time zones work best for your team or organization?
  • Conflicts: What major organizational events may cause conflicts (like end of the quarter, regional holidays, or product launches)?
  • Demos and judging: Did you set up sufficient time for demos and judging? Consider pushing demos and judging to the next day or making your hackathon virtual with a longer participation period.

Prizes and incentives

Prizes don’t have to be the center of attention, but incentives drive interest. The bigger the hackathon, the better it is to include prizes that non-technical participants can win.

Considerations for prizes:

  • Low-Cost Alternatives: Desk eye candy, swag, trophies, LinkedIn badges, lunch for the winning team/department, or an extra PTO day.
  • Participation Prizes: Eligible submission prizes help give back to participants that put in solid effort but didn’t win.
  • Non-Traditional Awards: "Funniest Pitch," "Most Useless Project," or "Least Likely to Succeed" can add levity beyond First, Second, and Third Place.
  • Post-Hackathon Opportunities: Include meetings with leadership to discuss potential future work on the project. This is a win-win and should be part of any company hackathon.