Events
Hackathon certificates, from winners to walk-ins
Issue winner, finalist, participant, mentor, and volunteer certificates from one hackathon list — with public verification, corrections, and late additions.
On this page
Judging finishes on Sunday, and the certificate list is still not a list. Registrations, check-ins, submissions, and the judging sheet each hold a different version of who was there and what they won. Most of the work is deciding which source wins for which award.
Verifycate gives each award group its own certificate, keeps the recipient record and public page together, and lets the team fix names or add late winners without rebuilding the batch. The design, delivery, and verification sit in the same place as the list.
This page covers what the platform does for a hackathon, what it replaces, and the choices that shape a clean closeout.
What breaks before the certificates go out
The certificate is rarely the hard part. The hard part is deciding who gets which recognition from four files that disagree.
- The registration export has the legal name and email, but not the team that formed on Saturday.
- The check-in sheet knows who attended, but not how their name should be spelled.
- The judging sheet knows the winner, but not the email address.
- The mentor and volunteer rosters live in someone’s notes.
By Sunday night, the organiser is matching rows by hand. A winner is missing, a team name is a joke, and the participant list includes people who left after the opening keynote.
The platform pieces
| Capability | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Template editor | One approved design with Attributes for award, track, team, and project. |
| CSV, Excel, paste, or API | Bring each recipient group from the tool that already holds it. |
| Award groups | Separate certificates for winners, finalists, participants, mentors, and volunteers. |
| Bulk issuing and email | Send a prepared group together, with a public page and QR code per certificate. |
| Issue Request Form | Collect people missing from the registration list; review or issue automatically. |
| Correction Form | Fix names and allowed details on the same certificate and page, without a reissue credit. |
| Public verification | A page anyone can check, plus signed Open Badge 3.0 data and LinkedIn sharing. |
| Delivery analytics | See issued, delivered, bounced, opened, clicked, and page views per certificate. |
The stack it replaces
| Old approach | What goes wrong | With Verifycate |
|---|---|---|
| Canva or Figma plus a mail merge | Every new award is a new file; names break the layout | Reusable Template with Attributes |
| PDFs in a Drive folder or Discord | People lose the file; nobody can verify it | Public page and QR code |
| A form for missing names | Responses arrive in a spreadsheet, then get matched by hand | Issue Request Form with review |
| ‘Reply to this email if your name is wrong’ | The team reissues the whole batch | Correction Form on the same certificate |
| Manual confirmation for employers | Someone has to answer every verification request | Public verification page |
Choices you control
- One design or several. Use one achievement design with
awardandtrackAttributes, or separate designs per award family. - Review or automatic. Set the Issue Request Form to review before issuing, or issue as soon as an applicant confirms their email.
- Highest award or multiple roles. A winner can receive one certificate, or a winner plus a mentor certificate if they contributed in both roles.
- Delivery surface. Send from the shared sender, or on Pro from your own domain, provider, or SMTP.
- Automation. Import CSV or Excel, paste rows, or create recipients through the API, webhooks, or Zapier.
- Credits. One credit per certificate issue; importing and corrections do not spend credits, and unused credits do not expire.
What improves
| Outcome | Where it shows up |
|---|---|
| Certificates issued per award group | Recipient status and certificate overview |
| Delivery and bounce rate | Delivery events |
| Corrections per event | Correction Requests |
| Recipient engagement | Opens, clicks, page views, shares |
| Cost per issue | Credits used against the batch size |
Where this works
Verifycate works with the data you already have: a CSV or Excel export from Devfolio, Unstop, Devpost, Google Forms, or a custom registration system. There is no native Devfolio, Unstop, or MLH integration; export the list, or use the API and webhooks if your system can call one.
It fits a campus hackathon, a community hackathon, or a corporate innovation sprint. It does not replace the registration, submission, or judging platform.
For the step-by-step version, see the event certificate checklist and how to prepare an attendee spreadsheet.
Common questions
- Can winners and participants get different certificates?
- Yes. Create separate certificates per award group, or one certificate with Attributes for award, track, and team. Separate designs give you different artwork; one design with Attributes is faster to maintain.
- What happens if someone is on both the participant and winner list?
- Decide the rule before issuing: highest award only, or one certificate per role. Verifycate skips duplicate recipient entries on import, but it does not know which recognition should win.
- Can we add late winners after the event?
- Yes. Add the recipient to the existing winner certificate and issue them. You do not need to rebuild the batch.
- How are name corrections handled?
- The recipient submits the Correction Form. Approving it updates the same certificate and public page without spending another credit.
- Do you integrate with Devfolio or Unstop?
- Not natively. Export the registration list as CSV or Excel and import it, or create recipients through the API, webhooks, or Zapier.
Related workflows
- Tech fest certificatesIssue tech fest certificates for winners, finalists, track prizes, team members, and volunteers — with sponsor marks and public verification.
- Cultural fest certificatesIssue cultural fest certificates for performers, winning teams, individual categories, judges, and volunteers — with stage names and group events.
- Workshop certificatesIssue workshop attendance or completion certificates from the list you have — including walk-ins, missing emails, late corrections, and a verification page.
Start issuing
Issue the first batch with 300 free credits
Design once, import the list, review the recipients, and send. No card required.