Keep in mind most of our students are minors and many are in situations where creating new entities that increase reported personal income would put them in a compromising position - ex. push their family over the income threshold for a welfare program and disqualify them.

Sponsors for high school events also typically look for 501(c)(3) status before giving to events that benefit their community. I'm sure an LLC is a great solution for many, but there's a reason high schoolers don't already do this for hackathons.

That wouldn't exempt you from federal tax though.