Hackathon Organizer Guide — Equity Edition¶
A complete hackathon operations toolkit for first-time organizers, built on the MLH Hackathon Organizer Guide (CC BY 4.0).
Most hackathon guides assume you already have a venue, a budget, and a network of judges and sponsors. This one doesn’t.
This fork adds an equity pack — resources specifically for schools running their first hackathon with no institutional support, no existing sponsor relationships, and no budget from the school.
What’s in here¶
Equity Pack (what this fork adds)¶
| Resource | What it solves |
|---|---|
| Zero-Budget Guide | Run a hackathon with $0 from your school |
| Grant Sources | HackClub Bank, MLH, GitHub Education, Google DSC, and more |
| HackClub Bank | Fastest path to $500 + fiscal sponsorship |
| Getting School Approval | Pitch email, objection handling, faculty advisor guide |
| Cold-Start Sponsor Outreach | Finding sponsors when you know nobody |
| Judging Rubric | Scored rubric with required vs. customizable fields |
| Score Calculator | Python script for aggregating judge scores (no dependencies) |
MLH Organizer Guide (original content)¶
Everything from MLH’s guide is preserved: event logistics, marketing, sponsorship frameworks, judging process, venue, scheduling, and more. See the full table of contents.
Start here if you’re new¶
- Get admin approval first → Working with School Administration
- Apply for HackClub Bank → HackClub Bank Guide (do this early — takes 1–2 weeks)
- Find your first sponsor → Cold-Start Outreach
- Plan the event → Hackathon Timeline
- Set up judging → Judging Rubric + MLH Judging Plan
Did you use this toolkit?¶
Open an issue to tell us about your event. It helps future organizers know this works.
Contributing¶
Improvements welcome — especially from organizers who’ve run events at under-resourced schools. See CONTRIBUTING.md if it exists, or open an issue to discuss.
License and Attribution¶
Original guide by Major League Hacking, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Equity pack additions by kireetcheri. See ATTRIBUTION.md for full details.
Code (scripts, schemas) is licensed under MIT.