Chapter 6: Budgeting
Know your numbers before you commit
Budgeting isn't the exciting part of event planning, but it's what separates events that happen smoothly from events that run out of money for lunch. This chapter gives you a practical framework for building a budget, tracking costs, and making smart trade-offs.
Start with the big categories
Every hackathon budget breaks down into roughly the same buckets. The amounts vary wildly, but the categories are consistent:
Venue & space — The biggest line item for on-site events. Ranges from free (a friend's office, a university classroom, a library) to thousands per day for professional event spaces. For online events, this is essentially zero.
Food & beverages — Budget $7–15 per person per day for on-site events. This is where first-time organisers consistently underestimate. Coffee alone adds up fast. More on food planning in Chapter 7.
Technology & platform — Your event platform (BuilderBase), video conferencing licenses, streaming equipment (for hybrid), cloud credits for participants, software tools.
Marketing & promotion — Social media ads, email tools, graphic design, content creation. This can be near-zero if you're relying on organic reach, or significant if you're doing paid promotion.
Prizes & awards — This can be zero (experience-only events are valid!) or tens of thousands for corporate competitions. Cash, gadgets, cloud credits, accelerator access, internship offers — all count.
Swag & merchandise — T-shirts, stickers, tote bags. Honestly, this is optional. If you're tight on budget, skip swag and spend the money on better food or a nicer venue. Nobody remembers the sticker. Everybody remembers being hungry.
Speakers & judges — Many volunteer, but some expect honorariums. Budget $0–500 per speaker depending on your event's scale and the speaker's profile.
Staffing & volunteers — If you're paying anyone on your team, account for it. Even volunteer events have costs — thank-you dinners, branded shirts for volunteers, transportation.
Contingency (10–15%) — Always, always, always include a buffer. Something will cost more than expected. The projector will break and you'll need to rent one. The caterer will charge a delivery fee you didn't know about. The contingency fund is your sanity insurance.
A sample budget
Here's what a 100-person, one-day on-site hackathon might look like:
Category | Estimated Cost |
Venue (co-working space, full day) | $1,500 |
Food & beverages (breakfast, lunch, snacks, coffee) | $1,200 |
Platform (BuilderBase) | $500 |
Marketing (social media, email tool) | $300 |
Prizes (1st: $500, 2nd: $300, 3rd: $200 + category awards) | $1,500 |
AV equipment (projector rental, mics) | $400 |
Supplies (name badges, power strips, markers, signage) | $200 |
Photography | $300 |
Contingency (12%) | $720 |
Total | $6,620 |
That works out to about $66 per person. Now compare that against your revenue sources:
Revenue Source | Amount |
Title Sponsor | $3,000 |
Gold Sponsor | $1,500 |
2x Silver Sponsors | $1,000 |
Registration fees (80 paid × $20) | $1,600 |
Total | $7,100 |
You'd be in the black with a small buffer. That's the goal — not profit maximisation, but financial sustainability with room for surprises.
Budget trade-offs: where to spend and where to save
Spend more on:
Food quality. Participants notice bad food immediately. Skip the pizza, invest in a decent caterer with dietary options. This single decision affects energy, mood, and how people remember your event.
Wifi and power. For on-site events, wifi failure is the #1 technical complaint. Rent mobile hotspots as backup. Buy extra power strips. This is not where you cut corners.
Participant experience. Good mentors, clear challenges, smooth check-in, responsive support — these cost more in planning time than money, but they're what make an event great.
Save money on:
Swag. Nice-to-have, not need-to-have. If you do swag, skip one-size-fits-all and get proper sizes. Or just do stickers — they're cheap and people love them.
Fancy venues. A clean, well-lit space with good wifi beats a swanky hotel ballroom with dead zones. Libraries, co-working spaces, and university halls are often free or cheap.
Over-the-top prizes. A $10,000 first prize sounds impressive but rarely changes outcomes. Experience prizes (accelerator spots, mentorship, cloud credits) are often more valuable to participants and cheaper for you.
Printed materials. Most things can be digital. QR codes to schedules work better than printed programmes that end up on the floor.
Tracking your budget
Use a simple spreadsheet with three columns per line item: Budgeted, Actual, Difference. Update it weekly during planning and daily during the event week.
Track both expenses and income. Know your running total at all times. There's nothing worse than discovering you're $2,000 short a week before the event.
The break-even calculation
Before you commit to anything, do this math:
Fixed costs (venue, platform, AV, photographer — things that cost the same regardless of attendance) + Variable costs per person (food, swag, supplies) × Expected attendance = Total cost
Total cost ÷ Expected attendance = Cost per person
Cost per person – Revenue per person (registration fee) = Gap per person
Gap per person × Expected attendance = Total sponsorship needed
If that sponsorship number feels achievable, you're good. If it feels terrifying, either reduce costs, increase registration fees, or scale down your event.
Financial reconciliation after the event
Within two weeks of the event, close your books:
Collect all receipts and invoices
Compare actual vs. budgeted for every line item
Calculate your true cost per participant
Prepare financial summaries for sponsors (they'll want to know their money was well spent)
Document lessons: what was over-budget? Under-budget? What would you change next time?
This data is gold for planning your next event. And it's essential for sponsor reports (Chapter 17).
Key takeaways:
Build your budget around standard categories: venue, food, tech, marketing, prizes, contingency
Always include a 10–15% contingency — something will go wrong
Spend on food and wifi; save on swag and fancy venues
Know your break-even point and total sponsorship gap before you commit
Track budgeted vs. actual weekly, and reconcile within two weeks after the event
Your budget data feeds directly into sponsor reports — track it well