DEV Community

Cover image for Join our DEV Weekend Challenge: Generosity Edition! $1,000 in Prizes Across FIVE Winners. Submissions Due September 7 at 6:59 AM UTC.
The DEV Team profile image Jem
Jem Community Curator for The DEV Team

Posted on

Join our DEV Weekend Challenge: Generosity Edition! $1,000 in Prizes Across FIVE Winners. Submissions Due September 7 at 6:59 AM UTC.

#devchallenge #weekendchallenge #hackathon

We're back with another DEV Weekend Challenge, a short bite-sized challenge planned to fit into your weekend. We know the submission window is tight, so we've set the timing to ensure that no matter where you are in the world, you'll have the majority of your Saturday and Sunday to participate.

Our theme for this weekend is generosity, inspired by @fmā€™s world peace suggestion in our call-for-ideas earlier this week and the upcoming International Day of Charity happening September 5th.

We'll select one overall winner and four prize category winners who utilize a specific technology as part of their challenge submission.

Let's get to it!

Our Prompt

Build something in the spirit of generosity.

Please interpret this prompt however you'd like. A personal donation tracker? A volunteer matching tool? Something that makes a small nonprofit's day-to-day less painful? A project that raises awareness for a cause you care about? Any angle is fair game.

If you need a jumping-off point, here are a few themes shaping modern charity work that the UN highlights on their website:

  • Technology-driven giving: crowdfunding, mobile donations, and tools that make giving more accessible and transparent
  • Youth leadership: social ventures and community projects led by the people closest to the problem
  • Equity and inclusion: solutions that account for how race, gender, disability, and geography shape need
  • Ethical and accountable giving: transparency, clear reporting, and community-driven design
  • Climate and poverty: resilience tools for the communities hit first and hardest

You do not have to pick one of these. They're here to get you unstuck.

Prize Categories

Alongside our overall winner spot, we have four prize categories for participants who incorporate a specific technology into their project. You don't need to use any of these tools to be eligible for the overall winner spot, but if you're curious about any of the tech, this is a great excuse to give one a try.

Pro Tip: since prize category winners are drawn from a smaller pool of submissions, your odds of taking home a prize are meaningfully higher.

Note: You may use multiple technologies in a single submission to qualify for multiple categories, but participants are limited to one win per challenge.

Judging Criteria

All submissions will be judged on the following:

  • Relevance to Theme: Does the project clearly connect to the spirit of the challenge?
  • Creativity: Is the concept original or is it an interesting take on a familiar problem?
  • Technical Execution: Is the project functional, well-built, and easy to use?
  • Writing Quality: Is the submission post clearly written and engaging?
  • Use of Prize Category Technology (optional): If pursuing a prize category, does the submission meaningfully incorporate the chosen technology?

Prizes

Five winners will each take home:

All participants with a valid submission will receive a completion badge.

How To Participate

Publish a post on DEV using the submission template below. Your post should give us an overview of what you made, who it's for, and a demo of your project.

Weekend Challenge Submission Template

Please review our judging criteria, rules, guidelines, and FAQ page before submitting so you understand our participation guidelines and official contest rules such as eligibility requirements.

Need Help?

Check out our official challenge page for resources to help you get started with tech from our prize category partners.

Important Dates

  • Launch Time: September 4, 2026 2:00 AM UTC
  • Submissions Due: September 7, 2026 6:59 AM UTC

Here's what that looks like across a few timezones:

Timezone Launch Time (Local) Submissions Due (Local)
PDT Thursday, Sep 3 at 7:00 PM Sunday, Sep 6 at 11:59 PM
EDT Thursday, Sep 3 at 10:00 PM Monday, Sep 7 at 2:59 AM
GMT Friday, Sep 4 at 2:00 AM Monday, Sep 7 at 6:59 AM
CEST Friday, Sep 4 at 4:00 AM Monday, Sep 7 at 8:59 AM
IST Friday, Sep 4 at 7:30 AM Monday, Sep 7 at 12:29 PM
JST Friday, Sep 4 at 11:00 AM Monday, Sep 7 at 3:59 PM
AEST Friday, Sep 4 at 12:00 PM Monday, Sep 7 at 4:59 PM

Winners will be Announced on Thursday, October 1.

Questions about the challenge? Drop them in the comments below.

Good luck!!

Top comments (1)

Collapse
 
fm profile image
Fayaz •

Brilliant!

Generosity is one of the most fundamental virtues that bring about peace. Peace can be difficult to achieve at times, but generosity can still change lives for the better, even when peace may seem impossible.

So it's an even better theme. šŸ„°