In the world of community building, engagement is often mistaken for passive participation—likes, clicks, and comments. But real engagement happens when members co-create. When they’re challenged to contribute, collaborate, and problem-solve together. That’s where hackathon-style events become a powerful lever.
These aren’t just for developers or startups. Hackathons are structured experiences that drive high-energy collaboration—designed around constraints, deadlines, and outcomes. And they work brilliantly for communities across industries.
What are hackathon-style events?
Hackathon-style events are time-bound, challenge-based sessions where community members come together to solve problems, generate ideas, or build projects. They can last a few hours or span multiple days. The focus isn’t always on building products—it can be strategy, storytelling, design, workflows, or community ideas.
They can take many forms:
Innovation sprints
Design jams
Ideaathons
Co-creation challenges
Impact hackathons for social good
What matters is the combination of constraints, collaboration, and creativity.
Why they work in community settings
1. High-intensity collaboration
These events concentrate energy. Members bond by doing, not just talking. The focused timeframe helps cut through inertia and foster momentum.
2. Tangible value
Hackathon-style activities often produce prototypes, frameworks, or campaigns. This gives members a visible sense of contribution and ownership.
3. Cross-functional learning
People from different backgrounds collaborate—designers work with writers, engineers with marketers. This creates peer learning that deepens trust and expands capability.
4. Increased belonging
Shared effort builds camaraderie. Members who participate in these events tend to stick around longer, engage more, and even evolve into community leaders.
Designing a hackathon-style event for your community
You don’t need to follow the classic 48-hour, sleep-deprived startup format. Instead, tailor it to your members' capacity and goals. Here’s how to design an impactful event:
1. Define a meaningful prompt
The challenge should be open enough to encourage creativity, but focused enough to produce outcomes. Example prompts:
“How might we improve our onboarding experience?”
“Design a campaign to celebrate local creators”
“Prototype a member-powered news brief”
2. Set time constraints
Short sprints work best. Consider:
2-hour collaborative jams
1-day async sprints
Weekend-long challenges with optional live check-ins
Constraints breed creativity—and prevent perfectionism from getting in the way.
3. Provide structure
Offer:
Clear instructions
Templates or toolkits
Example outputs or inspiration
A submission format
Structure lowers the barrier to participation, especially for newer or quieter members.
4. Encourage diverse teams
Allow members to self-organise or assign them into teams that mix experience levels and roles. This fosters unexpected connections and ideas.
5. Showcase outcomes
Celebrate what’s built—even if it’s rough. Demo days, galleries, and feedback sessions help validate the effort and spark next steps.
Making it accessible
Not everyone has the time—or confidence—for real-time collaboration. To widen participation:
Offer asynchronous options
Break down challenges into smaller steps
Pair new members with more experienced ones
Use platforms where collaboration is intuitive
The goal isn’t to pick winners. It’s to unlock contribution in a fun, pressure-managed way.
When to run hackathon-style events
Community milestones (anniversaries, launches, relaunches)
Product or content planning phases
Feedback cycles (e.g. co-designing features or experiences)
Low engagement periods (to re-energise the base)
Run them when you want to shift from passive to participatory energy.
Examples beyond tech
Media communities: Ideate newsletter formats or collaborative editorials
Healthcare communities: Co-create wellness resources or peer-support models
Non-profits: Design campaigns with members for advocacy or fundraising
Education: Build curriculum snippets or feedback tools with learners
If there’s a shared challenge or a need for innovation, a hackathon-style format can work.
Final thought
Hackathon-style events aren’t about building code. They’re about building trust. They show that leadership believes in its members’ creativity. They move from conversation to creation. And most importantly, they prove that community is not a spectator sport—it’s a collective experiment.
FAQs: Hackathon-style events for community engagement
What is the difference between a traditional hackathon and a community hackathon?
Traditional hackathons are often product-focused, with software development as the core output. Community hackathons, however, prioritise engagement, inclusion, and co-creation across diverse topics—not limited to code. They aim to foster collaboration, problem-solving, and creativity among members of all backgrounds, regardless of technical skill.
How do you measure success in a community hackathon?
Success metrics vary, but may include:
Number of active participants or submissions
Member retention and satisfaction post-event
Quality and diversity of ideas generated
New connections formed within the community
Reusable assets or frameworks produced
Qualitative outcomes—like increased trust or visibility of underrepresented voices—can be as valuable as quantitative ones.
Can online communities run hackathon-style events?
Absolutely. Virtual hackathons can be hosted using collaborative tools (e.g. Miro, Notion, Slack, Google Docs) and timed sprints. You can incorporate video calls for kickoff, check-ins, or demos, but many communities run them asynchronously to accommodate time zones and availability.
What tools are best for managing a virtual community hackathon?
It depends on the format, but common options include:
Slack or Discord for communication
Google Forms or Typeform for sign-ups
Trello or Notion for challenge tracking
Zoom or Gather for live sessions
Miro, Canva, or Figma for collaborative creation
Airtable for submissions or judging
The simpler and more familiar the tools, the better the participation.
Do hackathon-style events need prizes to be effective?
Not necessarily. While prizes can incentivise participation, meaningful prompts, visible outcomes, and public recognition often provide stronger long-term motivation. Consider showcasing contributions through blog features, community shout-outs, or integration into future initiatives.
