Free hackathon templates: rules, judging rubric, checklist.

This page gives you six free templates for organizing a hackathon or a challenge: rules, three judging rubrics, an 8-week checklist, an event planning sheet, four ready-to-send emails and a business case outline. They are open: no form to fill in. Read them here or in the linked guide, copy them and adapt them freely. To read offline, there are also four complete PDF guides (in Italian).

Write your first challenge for freeHow MARA works
  • No form to fill in
  • No file to download
  • Copy them and adapt them freely

Note. These templates are a starting point. The rules in particular need a review by a qualified adviser before you publish them.

Which template should you start with?

If this is your first event, use them in this order:

  1. 01

    Event planning sheet

    , with the basic decisions on one page.

  2. 02

    Business case

    , if leadership has to sign off on budget and hours.

  3. 03

    Ready-to-send emails

    , to get approval and recruit judges.

  4. 04

    Judging rubrics

    , fixed before you publish.

  5. 05

    Rules

    , which include the criteria and go to your adviser.

  6. 06

    Checklist

    , to put everything on the calendar.

Hackathon rules template

What it is. The document participants accept when they sign up. The full template has 13 sections: organizer, eligibility, teams, dates, deliverables, allowed tools, criteria and jury, prizes, intellectual property, personal data, code of conduct, disqualification, changes to the rules.

When to use it. After you have chosen the criteria, since the rules include them, and early enough for your adviser: about six weeks before the event.

An excerpt, the options on AI use:

Artificial intelligence tools:
[OPTION 1: not allowed.]
[OPTION 2: allowed; teams state which tools they used and for what.]
[OPTION 3: allowed without limits.]

The full template, with three options for intellectual property and a personal data section, is in the hackathon rules template guide.

Hackathon judging rubrics

What they are. Three rubrics of five weighted criteria: business hackathon, tech hackathon and hiring challenge. Each judge scores every criterion from 1 to 5: the score divided by 5 is multiplied by the weight, and the total gives a result out of 100. MARA does not calculate scores or build rankings: your jury decides the scores and the ranking, with its own sheet.

When to use them. Before you publish. The criteria go into the brief and the rules and stay the same for everyone.

A preview, the heaviest criterion in each rubric:

RubricFor which deliverableHeaviest criterion
BusinessA pitch or a planCustomer value and feasibility, 25% each
TechA working prototypeIt works, 30%
HiringA work sample for a hireQuality of work, 30%

The three full rubrics, the 1-to-5 scale with descriptors and a block to paste into a spreadsheet are in the judging criteria guide.

8-week hackathon checklist

What it is. Every task in its week, with the role that owns it: organizer, jury or comms.

When to use it. As soon as you have a date and a goal. For a small internal hackathon, compress it into 3 to 4 weeks without dropping tasks.

A preview of some of the weeks:

  • 8 weeks before

    Goal in one sentence, format, date, budget, the person who will take the winning idea forward.

  • 6 weeks before

    Criteria, rules sent to your adviser, prize, jury confirmed.

  • 5 weeks before

    Challenge published, sign-ups open.

  • At the awards

    An owner and a decision date for the winning idea.

  • Within a week of the event

    Feedback to teams, certificates or acknowledgments.

Every task, including those for online, internal and in-person events, is in the full checklist.

Event planning sheet

What it is. One page with the decisions the other templates take for granted. If a row is still empty, you are not ready to publish.

When to use it. Use it first, and share it with whoever approves the event. Write a single goal: criteria, prize and jury all follow from it.

ItemWhat to writeExample: hiring challenge
GoalOne sentence: what you want to achieve and how you will know you didPick 5 people to interview for a junior marketing role
FormatHiring challenge, open or internal hackathon, business game; online, in person or hybridOnline hiring challenge, individual
Who takes partWho can sign up and how you invite themRecent graduates who answered the job ad, invited with a private link
LengthHours, days or weeks of work for participants2 weeks
PrizeWhat the winners get and what the others who submit getInterview with the team lead; certificate for everyone who submits
JuryNames, roles and who breaks a tieMarketing lead, one HR person, one team member
CriteriaThree to five, with weightsHiring rubric: quality of work 30%, problem analysis 25%, reasoning 20%, communication 15%, following the brief 10%
DeliverableFormat, limits, where it is uploadedLaunch plan, 8 slides maximum
DatesPublishing, deadline, judging, results. If students take part, avoid exam periods and the summer breakDeadline after 14 days, results to everyone within 7 days of the deadline

The blank version, to copy into a document:

EVENT PLANNING SHEET: [NAME]

Goal (one sentence): [what you want to achieve and how you will measure it]
Format: [hiring challenge / open hackathon / internal hackathon / business game], [online / in person / hybrid]
Who takes part: [who can sign up], invited via [link / job ad / university]
Length: [hours / days / weeks]
Prize: [for the winners]. For everyone who submits: [certificate / acknowledgment]
Jury: [names and roles]. Ties: [rule]
Criteria: [criterion (weight%)], [criterion (weight%)], [criterion (weight%)]
Deliverable: [format and limits], uploaded to [where]
Dates: publish [date], deadline [date], judging [dates], results [date]

Ready-to-send emails for proposing a challenge

Four short emails to adapt: replace the parts in square brackets. Each one ends with a concrete next step. If you use MARA, the builder writes the draft challenge to attach, and drafts are free.

HR to leadership: a hiring challenge

Subject: Proposal: a work sample for the [role] hire

Hi [name],
For the [role] opening we have [number] applications with very
similar CVs. I'd like to add a practical challenge before interviews:
candidates spend [duration] on a real problem from the team and hand
in [deliverable].

[Names or roles] will evaluate, using criteria fixed in advance and
the same for everyone. We'd go into interviews having seen their work.

Cost: [tool cost] plus about [hours] hours of team time.
Prize: [interview / internship].

Next step: I'll send you the draft by [date]. Can we take 15 minutes
on [day] to decide whether to go ahead?

[Signature]

Manager to HR: an internal hackathon

Subject: Internal hackathon on [topic]: proposal

Hi [name],
My team has a problem nobody has had time to rethink: [problem in
one sentence]. I'd like to propose a [duration] internal hackathon,
open to [departments], with mixed teams.

What I'd need from HR: the announcement to staff, agreement with
managers on time off regular work (about [hours] per person), and a
check of the rules on ideas and data with [legal team].

Jury: [names], who can decide what moves forward.
Prize: [a day with leadership / other].

Next step: could we talk for 20 minutes on [day]? I'll bring a draft
brief and the timeline.

[Signature]

Company to a university career services office

Subject: A challenge for [course or department] students

Dear [name],
I'm [name and role] at [company]. We'd like to offer students in
[course] a challenge based on a real problem of ours: [problem in one
sentence]. They would work [online / in person] for [duration], alone
or in teams, and hand in [deliverable].

Taking part is free for students. The winners get [interview /
internship]; everyone who submits receives [certificate] and feedback
against the criteria. [Roles of the judges] will evaluate.

We can fit the dates around the course calendar and avoid exam
periods.

Next step: could we have a 30-minute call [day or week] to see where
the challenge could fit?

Kind regards,
[Signature]

Organizer to colleagues: judging submissions

Subject: Would you judge submissions for [challenge name]?

Hi [name],
[Challenge name] closes on [date], and we expect about [number]
submissions on [topic]. I'm looking for [number] judges and thought
of you because [reason: you know the problem / the role].

What I'm asking: read the brief and criteria before the event, score
about [number] submissions on a 1-to-5 scoring sheet by [date], write two
lines of comment for each score, and join a final meeting of
[duration].

Estimated total time: [hours] hours between [date] and [date].

Next step: could you reply by [date]? If you're in, I'll send the
brief, criteria and scoring sheet straight away.

Thanks,
[Signature]

Business case for leadership

When leadership makes the call, an email is not enough. You need one page with the goal, the current way of working, what a challenge changes, full costs (tool, prize and team hours), risks, the plan and the metrics to track. The guide on the hackathon business case explains how to write it.

Complete guides in PDF (in Italian)

Four MARA guides, free and with no form to fill in. They take the templates on this page and put them in order, from the idea to the follow-up.

How do the templates work with MARA?

MARA's builder writes a challenge's rules, criteria, deliverables and timeline from a job description or a few lines about the problem. You edit everything, and nothing goes live until you approve it. With the event planning sheet filled in, you already have what you need to describe the problem. The legal sections of the rules stay with your adviser. Every step is on the how MARA works page. Back to the home page.

Frequently asked questions.

01Can I use these templates without MARA?

Yes. They work with any tool: a document, a spreadsheet, your email. Copy them and adapt them however you like.

02Does the rules template replace legal advice?

No. It is a starting point: intellectual property, personal data and prizes depend on your situation and country. Have a qualified adviser review the final text, including any national rules on prize contests (in Italy, DPR 430/2001).

03What format are the templates in?

Text on the page, ready to copy and paste. Rubrics go into Excel or Google Sheets, emails into your mail, the planning sheet into a document. If you prefer reading offline, there are also four complete PDF guides (in Italian). No form to fill in.

04Do they work for a business game or a hiring challenge?

Yes. One of the judging rubrics is built for hiring. The planning sheet, emails and checklist fit any format: adjust the length and the deliverables.

Your next challenge can start today.

Write your challenge in a few minutes. Drafts are free.

Write your first challenge for free

No commitment. You pay only when the challenge is live.