Running a Hackathon on Zero School Budget¶
Your school gave you $0. That's fine. Here's how to run a real event anyway.
The minimum budget for a small hackathon (30–80 students, 1 day) is roughly $300–$800:
| Item | Estimated cost | Can be $0? |
|---|---|---|
| Food (lunch + snacks for 50 people) | $150–$400 | Yes — get it sponsored |
| Prizes | $100–$500 | Yes — get them donated |
| Printing (schedules, name tags) | $20–$50 | Yes — use school printer or skip |
| Venue | $0–$500 | Yes — use school space |
| WiFi | $0 | School provides |
| Total with sponsors | $0 | Yes |
Every line item above can be covered without school money.
Step 1: Apply for HackClub Bank first¶
Before you do anything else, apply to HackClub Bank. It takes 10 minutes and can get you $500 in fiscal-sponsored funds with no strings attached. Do this the day you decide to run a hackathon — applications fill up.
Step 2: Get food sponsored¶
Food is your biggest expense. The pitch to local restaurants and grocery stores:
"We're running a student tech event at [SCHOOL NAME] on [DATE] with [NUMBER] students attending. We'd love to list you as a food sponsor. In exchange, we'll put your logo on our website and mention you at the event. We're looking for [pizza for 50 / $150 in gift cards / a catering donation]."
Best targets: - Local pizza places (easy yes, often donate for community events) - Costco/Sam's Club (have community donation programs — look up "[store name] community donations") - Campus dining (often has a community or event budget — ask the manager directly, not a cashier) - Nearby tech companies' office managers (they often have extra catered food or snack budgets)
Step 3: Get prizes donated¶
Prizes don't have to be cash. Good hackathon prizes that cost $0 to organizers:
- Amazon AWS, Google Cloud, GitHub Student Pack credits — all have free-tier programs for student events; email their developer relations teams
- Books — O'Reilly, No Starch Press, and Manning all have author copies and donation programs
- Hardware — Raspberry Pi Foundation, Arduino, Adafruit have education programs
- Swag — Local tech companies almost always say yes to donating branded merchandise as prizes
- Experiences — Coffee chats with local engineers, mock interview sessions, portfolio reviews
For cash prizes: $25–$50 Amazon gift cards per winner are meaningful and achievable via a single local sponsor.
Step 4: Find one local tech company sponsor¶
You only need one sponsor paying $200–$500 to cover food and basic prizes. See cold-start sponsor outreach for how to find and pitch them when you have no existing relationships.
Step 5: Grant sources¶
See grant-sources.md for a list of programs that specifically fund student hackathons — including ones that don't require an existing organization or tax ID.
What you cannot cut¶
- Code of conduct — Required. Free. Use MLH's template.
- Faculty supervisor — Required by most schools. Free. Ask a teacher.
- A way for teams to submit projects — Devpost free tier works. So does a Google Form.
- Judging — You can do it with a spreadsheet and volunteer judges. See rubric.
Last verified: 2026-03-30. Links change — verify before using.