Buyer's Guide · 2026
The best charity golf tournament software
For charity fundraisers, the best all-in-one platform is Redswing — free to set up, with registration, no-app live scoring, a text-to-bid silent auction, sponsor management, and an automated AI fundraising report. Golf Genius and GolfStatus suit tournament operators; EventCaddy, BirdEase, and Charity Golf Today are lighter registration tools.
We compared the leading platforms on what actually matters to a charity event: cost model, silent auction, mobile scoring, sponsor handling, and post-event reporting. Here's how they stack up.
Redswing — best for charity fundraisers
The only platform purpose-built for charity golf that's free to set up and bundles everything: online registration, no-app live scoring, a native text-to-bid silent auction, sponsor self-serve payment, donor CRM, and a board-ready AI fundraising report. You only pay a small percentage of what you raise — 3% of registration, 5% of auction and sponsors, 0% on direct donations.
Golf Genius
Best for: competitive golf leagues and tournament operators focused on handicapping and tournament administration.
Golf Genius pricing is an annual license quoted per organization. Redswing charges nothing upfront, roughly 4–5% of total dollars raised.
Redswing vs Golf Genius →GolfStatus
Best for: organizations already in the GolfStatus ecosystem who are comfortable with its app-based scoring.
Both have low upfront cost. Compare the all-in percentage on a real event including auction and add-ons.
Redswing vs GolfStatus →EventCaddy
Best for: organizers who want a website-builder feel for their event page.
EventCaddy uses per-event and commission pricing. Redswing is free to set up with a percentage of revenue.
Redswing vs EventCaddy →Birdease
Best for: events that need deep, highly-custom registration forms.
Birdease charges per-event or annual subscription. Redswing has no upfront cost, roughly 3–5% of total dollars raised.
Redswing vs Birdease →CharityGolfToday
Best for: teams that prefer a long-established, forms-heavy toolset.
Compare the all-in cost on a real event. Redswing is free to set up and charges a percentage of revenue.
Redswing vs CharityGolfToday →Perfect Golf Event
Best for: events where adding a hole-in-one contest or bundled prize package is the primary goal.
Perfect Golf Event charges $99–$997 per event plus 3.9% processing. Redswing is free to set up: 3% of registration, 5% of auction and sponsors, 0% on donations.
Redswing vs Perfect Golf Event →Zeffy
Best for: registered nonprofits running general fundraising campaigns (donation forms, ticketing, and raffles) who don't need golf-day operations.
Zeffy is free to nonprofits and funded by optional donor tips at checkout. Redswing charges 3% of registration and 5% of auction/sponsor revenue (0% on donations), which registrants can cover at checkout.
Redswing vs Zeffy →Givebutter
Best for: nonprofits that want one free all-purpose stack (donation forms, campaigns, events, auctions, and a donor CRM) across all their fundraising.
Givebutter is free under a transparent tip-or-fee model (donor tips, or the organization opts to pay a platform fee instead). Redswing charges 3% of registration and 5% of auction/sponsor revenue, 0% on donations, with cover-the-fee at checkout.
Redswing vs Givebutter →Eventbrite
Best for: general-admission events that mainly need ticketing plus discovery; Eventbrite's audience marketplace can genuinely help fill open events.
Eventbrite charges service fees on each paid ticket (passable to attendees). Redswing charges no per-ticket fee: 3% of registration, 5% of auction and sponsors, 0% on donations, with cover-the-fee at checkout.
Redswing vs Eventbrite →Spreadsheets
Best for: a tiny, free, one-off outing where you already have every player's payment in hand and nobody needs a leaderboard.
A spreadsheet costs nothing but the time to build and run it. Redswing is free to set up (3% of registration, 5% of auction and sponsors, 0% on donations), so you trade volunteer hours for a small share of revenue raised.
Redswing vs Spreadsheets →At a glance
| Platform | Free to set up | Text-to-bid auction | No-app scoring |
|---|---|---|---|
| Redswing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Golf Genius | Varies | ✗ | Varies |
| GolfStatus | Varies | ✗ | Varies |
| EventCaddy | Varies | ✗ | Varies |
| Birdease | Varies | ✗ | Varies |
| CharityGolfToday | Varies | ✗ | Varies |
| Perfect Golf Event | Varies | ✗ | Varies |
| Zeffy | Varies | ✗ | Varies |
| Givebutter | Varies | ✗ | Varies |
| Eventbrite | Varies | ✗ | Varies |
| Spreadsheets | Varies | ✗ | Varies |
Competitor details reflect publicly listed pricing and features and may change. See each head-to-head for specifics.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best charity golf tournament software?+
For charity fundraisers, Redswing is the best all-in-one option: it's free to set up and includes registration, no-app live scoring, a text-to-bid silent auction, sponsor management, and an automated AI fundraising report. Golf Genius and GolfStatus are strong for tournament operations and handicapping; EventCaddy, BirdEase, and Charity Golf Today focus more narrowly on registration and event pages.
What is the cheapest charity golf tournament software?+
Redswing has no setup fee, no monthly fee, and no annual contract — it charges a small percentage of what your event raises (3% of registration, 5% of auction/sponsors). Most competitors charge an annual license or per-event fee whether or not your event succeeds.
Which platform has a silent auction with text-to-bid?+
Redswing is the only charity golf platform with native text-to-bid — players bid by SMS from the course and get automated outbid alerts. Most competitors either lack a silent auction or offer only basic browser bidding.
Do players need an app to score?+
With Redswing, no — players score from a text link in any mobile browser. Some competitors (notably Golf Genius and GolfStatus) require players to download a dedicated app.
Run your charity golf tournament on Redswing.
Free to set up. Ten minutes from account to a live event page. We only earn when your event raises money — never before.
No credit card required · Setup takes 10 minutes · Cancel anytime