Spring 2025 Collaborative Coding Challenge

Welcome to the Spring 2025 Collaborative Coding Challenge

The Collaborative Coding Challenge hosted by Simpler.Grants.gov starts on Monday, March 10th! Make sure you don’t miss out on it. This will be a great chance to collaborate with developers, subject matter experts, product managers, and designers from around the country. Winners will be chosen by community favorite voting among all participants, so start planning how you’ll make your submission stand out.

Who Should Participate?

  • Software Developers – Building functional prototypes or MVPs

  • Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) – Managers, analysts in state/local government who search and apply for federal grants

  • Product Managers & Designers – Helping shape user experience and project direction

  • Non-Technical Contributors – Brainstorming, planning, project management, etc.

Whether you have extensive coding experience or simply a passion for problem-solving, your insights will help shape the next generation of federal grants solutions.

If you are interested and have not already, please sign up here to participate.


Goal

Develop simple projects using the Search & Opportunities API that showcase innovative or creative ways that could improve the federal grantseeking experience.


Submissions

These must be added to this Google Drive folder by midnight EST on March 31st 2025. All submissions must contain the following critera to be accepted.

A document or slideshow in a readable format (.docx, .rtf, .txt, .pdf, etc) which contains:

  1. Team / Project Name

  2. Names of all contributors

  3. Link to a code repository that can be accessed by the public (open source)

  4. A short description of the goals of the project

  5. A short demonstration of the project in action.

Optional Submission Template Link


Prize Pool

A prize pool will be awarded to winners at the conclusion of the event. Awards will be decided by community favorite voting from all participants. Prize money must be divided up equally among all members of the winning team.

Over $4,000 total

  • 1st Place: $1,500

  • 2nd Place: $1,000

  • 3rd Place: $500

  • Top 10 Proposals (beyond 1st–3rd): $150 each


Event Schedule

Submissions open on March 10, 2025, and remain open for 3 weeks. We’ll kick off with an optional virtual meeting on March 10th at 3 PM EST.

1

Kickoff Meeting

  • Monday, March 10th at 3 PM EST

  • Agenda: Welcome, overview of challenge rules, networking, team formation

2

Weekly Zoom Workshops

  • March 14th @ 2 PM EST

    • Topics: How to request an API key, setting up your development environment, live Q&A with mentors

  • March 19th @ 8 PM EST

    • Topics: Ongoing project support, advanced mentor Q&A, troubleshooting tips

  • March 22nd @ 5 PM EST

    • Topics: Finalizing project structure, best practices for code submissions, last-minute questions

3

Submission Due Date

  • March 31st @ 12AM EST

    • All submissions must be turned in by this time. Late submissions will be accepted, but will not be eligible for awards.

4

Voting Period Begins

  • April 1st @ 12PM EST

    • Submissions will be voted on by participants to determine who the "Crowd Favorite" is. The top 10 submissions will be eligible for prize money.

5

Voting Period Begins

  • April 4th @ 12AM EST

    • All votes must be in by this time. The Simpler.Grants.gov team will then tabulate the results and announce them to the community.

6

Awards Ceremony

  • April 4th @ 4PM EST

    • We will announce winners, celebrate participants and discuss next steps for successful projects.

All virtual sessions and breakout rooms will be hosted on Zoom. We encourage you to have Zoom installed and set up prior to the event.


Code of Conduct

Our events foster a collaborative, creative community for all participants and government partners. Please adhere to the following guidelines:

  1. Foster an environment that encourages creativity and empowers teammates to bring their best selves.

  2. Encourage respectful questioning, active listening, and openness to ideas.

  3. Always assume positive intent in interactions.

  4. Consider the global and local impact of your ideas.

  5. Ensure a harassment-free space that encourages free speech.


Repositories and Resources

Simpler Grants.gov Repository: GitHub

Simpler Grants.gov: Visit the Site

Developer Documentation: View Developer Docs

API

Need an API Key? Reach out to us directly.

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