Terms of Use
These Terms of Use ("Terms") govern your access to and use of StewardDesk, a free web application provided by StewardDesk ("we," "our," or "us"). By creating an account or using the service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use StewardDesk.
1. Who May Use StewardDesk
StewardDesk is intended for use by churches, congregations, and their authorized volunteers and staff. You must be at least 18 years old to create an account. By registering, you represent that you are authorized to act on behalf of your church or organization in this capacity and that the information you provide is accurate.
2. Your Account
You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account. You must enable two-factor authentication (TOTP) as required by the service — this is enforced for all accounts. Notify us immediately at hello@stewarddesk.com or through the contact form if you suspect unauthorized access to your account.
Each church or organization operates as a separate account with data isolated from all others. Administrators within an organization control which users have access and at what permission level. You may not share login credentials with other users or use your account to access another organization's data.
For security, sessions expire after 12 hours. You will be required to sign in again after that period.
3. Congregation Member Data
StewardDesk stores personal information about your congregation members — including names, email addresses, and other profile fields — that your team enters for the purpose of tracking giving. By entering this data, you represent that:
- Your church or organization has appropriate authorization to collect and process this information
- The information is used solely for internal church record-keeping and stewardship purposes
- You will honor any requests from individuals to correct or remove their records from your system
We store this data on your behalf but we are not responsible for the accuracy of member records or for ensuring your church's compliance with applicable privacy laws related to your congregation's data.
4. Acceptable Use
You agree to use StewardDesk only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms. You may not:
- Use the service for any commercial purpose or on behalf of a for-profit organization
- Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any account, system, or network connected to StewardDesk
- Access or attempt to access another organization's data
- Introduce malware, viruses, or any other harmful code
- Reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract the source code of the application
- Misrepresent your identity or your church's information
- Use the service in any way that violates applicable local, state, or federal law
5. Church Financial Data and Responsibility
You are responsible for the accuracy of all financial records, contribution data, offering counts, and other content you enter into StewardDesk. We provide tools to assist with record-keeping — we do not audit, verify, or guarantee the accuracy of data you enter.
StewardDesk is not a licensed accounting service, financial institution, or tax advisor. Nothing in the service constitutes financial, legal, or tax advice. You should consult qualified professionals for those needs, including the preparation of charitable giving statements or tax filings.
6. Third-Party Integrations
StewardDesk integrates with third-party services including Plaid (bank connectivity) and Zeffy (giving imports). Your use of those integrations is also governed by those providers' own terms and privacy policies. We are not responsible for the actions, availability, or data practices of third-party services.
Plaid: Bank connections in StewardDesk are organization-level and are managed by your organization's administrator from the Integrations settings page. When a bank account is connected, that connection applies to all users within your organization until an administrator disconnects it. The connection is read-only — StewardDesk can never initiate transfers or move money on your behalf. We import only inbound transactions (deposits and credits), specifically: peer-to-peer transfers (Zelle, Venmo, Cash App), cash and check deposits, ACH and direct deposits, and certain income credits. Outgoing payments, purchases, bills, and transactions in unrelated categories are automatically filtered out and never stored. Imported deposits are placed in a staging area where your team reviews and matches them to member contribution records. Your bank login credentials are never stored by StewardDesk. When you connect a bank account via Plaid, you also agree to the Plaid End User Privacy Policy and Plaid's terms.
Zeffy: Giving imports are initiated by your organization's administrator. Data imported from Zeffy (donor names, emails, amounts, payment details) is stored within your organization's account and subject to this Privacy Policy.
7. Platform Operator Access
StewardDesk's platform operators have administrative (SuperAdmin) access to the system for the purposes of technical support, maintenance, security monitoring, and compliance. We may access your organization's data when necessary to investigate a reported issue, respond to a support request you have initiated, or comply with a legal obligation. We do not access organizational data for commercial purposes or share it with third parties except as described in our Privacy Policy.
8. Availability and Changes
We provide StewardDesk as-is and make no guarantees about uptime or availability. We may modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the service at any time. We will make reasonable efforts to notify users of significant changes, but are not obligated to do so.
We may update these Terms from time to time. We will update the "Last updated" date above and, for material changes, notify users by email. Continued use of StewardDesk after updated Terms are posted constitutes acceptance.
9. Donations
StewardDesk is free to use. If you choose to make a voluntary donation to support the service, that donation is not a purchase of any product or service and does not entitle you to any additional rights, features, or guarantees. Donations are generally non-refundable.
10. Intellectual Property
All content, design, code, and materials comprising StewardDesk (excluding your organization's data) are our property or the property of our licensors. You may not copy, modify, distribute, or create derivative works from the service without our written permission.
You retain ownership of all data you enter into StewardDesk. By using the service, you grant us a limited license to store and process that data solely to provide the service to you.
11. Data Export
StewardDesk provides a self-service Excel export for contribution records, available from the Contributions page. For a full export of your organization's data — including member records, physical counts, and other data types — contact us at hello@stewarddesk.com and we will work with you to provide it in a reasonable format.
12. Disclaimer of Warranties
StewardDesk is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. We do not warrant that the service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of harmful components.
13. Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, StewardDesk and its operators shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of or inability to use the service, including but not limited to loss of data, financial loss, or errors in financial records — even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.
Our total liability to you for any claim arising out of or related to these Terms or the service shall not exceed the amount you have paid us in the twelve months preceding the claim (which, for free accounts, is zero).
14. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless StewardDesk and its operators from any claim, loss, liability, or expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your use of the service, your violation of these Terms, your violation of any applicable law, or your organization's unauthorized collection or misuse of congregation member data.
15. Termination
You may stop using StewardDesk at any time and request account deletion by contacting us at hello@stewarddesk.com.
We reserve the right to suspend or terminate any account that violates these Terms, engages in harmful behavior, or has been inactive for an extended period, with or without notice.
16. Governing Law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of South Carolina, United States, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. Any disputes arising under these Terms shall be resolved in the courts located in South Carolina.
17. Contact
Questions about these Terms? Reach us at hello@stewarddesk.com or through the contact form.