The Des Moines Charity Hackathon, an annual 48 hour event hosted by dsmHack, is currently seeking project proposals from registered 501(c)3 non-profit organizations that serve Polk County, Iowa.
The annual event—held every year since 2014, except 2021—seeks to implement software-based solutions for non-profit organizations that impact the local community. Throughout its tenure, that’s amounted to over 600 volunteers working to provide $1.2 million in in-kind services to 72 non-profit organizations, and it has gained dsmHack—itself a 501(c)3 non-profit—some recognition.
It was a Prometheus award finalist in 2019, and won Business Record magazines 2020 Spirit of Philanthropy award.
The event was initially slated to be held at the end of March, but due to a recent surge in COVID-19 cases in Iowa and across the country, it has been pushed back to June. Last week, the number of daily new cases reached an all time high in Iowa, while state legislators continue to push back against the CDC, the Biden administration and the Supreme Court about public health measures relating to mask-wearing and vaccination mandates.
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Those wishing to attend the dsmHack event should become fully vaccinated as soon as possible. With the hackathon now scheduled for the weekend of June 2 – 4, dsmHack has also announced it will be requiring all participants, volunteers and nonprofit representatives to show proof of vaccination in order to participate.
Eligible non-profit organizations are encouraged to submit project proposals for this year’s hackathon through April 29. An online Q&A will be held March 10 for interested organizations.
Ten projects are selected by the dsmHack board on the basis of community impact and viability. Selected non-profits then explain their projects at the beginning of the event, and volunteers self-organize into teams working to complete a minimum viable product in just 48 hours.
For many volunteers, charity isn’t their sole motivation.
Rather, the challenge of hacking something together in such a small time frame is what makes the weekend enjoyable.
“I was hooked from day one,” said dsmHack president Lynn Woody, who first volunteered at the event in 2015.
“It’s truly 48 consecutive hours,” she said. “We serve really good food and drink beer. The team decides when they go home and sleep, and there’s been times where team members just stay the whole night. It’s crazy, but really adrenaline-forming.”
For more information, please visit the dsmHack website.
