5 Lessons About Digital Badges and Community Engagement from Hacktoberfest

Every October, developers around the world take part in Hacktoberfest, DigitalOcean's annual open-source event. Holopin has run its digital badges since 2022. More than 50,000 developers claimed badges in that first year, and we issued over 73,000 Holopin badges in 2025.

Running a badge program at that scale teaches you a few things. Here are five lessons that apply to any community using digital badges.

1. Make Progress Visible

Hacktoberfest badges are built as a progression. In 2025, new badges unlocked at 1 to 4 accepted pull requests, with a Supercontributor badge at 6. Each contribution also added an accessory to a custom avatar, and contributors could follow their progress on the Hacktoberfest portal.

Just under 10% of participants reached Supercontributor in 2025, so most people were always working toward a next step they could see.

The takeaway: If you're running a digital badge program, show members where they stand and what comes next.

2. Issue the First Badge Early

In 2025, participants received a Holopin badge the moment they registered, before any contribution had been accepted. Recognition starts on day one.

Early engagement also tracks with finishing. In our 2022 case study, people who claimed the Level 1 badge were 23% more likely to complete all four levels than those who didn't. That's a correlation, since motivated people are also more likely to claim a badge, but it's a good reason to get the first one into people's hands quickly.

The takeaway: Don't save all your badges for the end. The first interaction someone has with your badge program should feel rewarding.

3. Build Badge Paths for Non-Code Work

An event organized around pull requests makes code the easiest thing to count, but documentation, translation, design, and community support matter to open source too.

Other programs show what broader recognition can look like. Ansible's community badges cover speaking at meetups, publishing content, and helping users, and Apache's cover documentation and mentoring.

The takeaway: If your badge program only recognizes code, you're leaving out a lot of the people who keep your community healthy.

4. Design Badges People Want to Share

During Hacktoberfest 2022, we counted well over 20,000 social posts of developers sharing their badges on Twitter and LinkedIn. Part of the appeal was how the badges looked. Hacktoberfest chose them partly because they resembled laptop stickers, which suited an audience that already likes showing off what it's part of.

Sharing also has to be easy. Hacktoberfest badges can go on LinkedIn, X, Bluesky, GitHub READMEs, and portfolios.

The takeaway: Treat badge design and shareability as part of the program, not an afterthought.

5. Make It a Recurring Ritual

Hacktoberfest happens every October, so people can plan around it. Maintainers can prepare issues, organizations can plan their involvement, and contributors can set time aside.

Badges can reward that repeat participation directly. In 2025, we added Badge Club badges for anyone who had collected 1, 5, or 10 Hacktoberfest badges over the years.

The takeaway: Make community programs recurring and predictable, and recognize the people who keep coming back.

Bringing It All Together

Digital badges work best when they're visible, immediate, inclusive, shareable, and consistent. Those principles aren't specific to Hacktoberfest, so they're a useful starting point for any community program.

If you're planning something similar, our guide to building a contributor recognition program covers the practical setup. And if you want to see all this in action, we'll see you in October.