Acceptable Use Policy

Effective Date: June 10, 2026

This Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP") governs use of the Vine and Branch church management platform ("Service") provided by Vine and Branch Software, LLC ("Company," "we," "us," or "our"). By accessing or using the Service, you ("Organization" or "User") agree to comply with this AUP. This AUP supplements and is incorporated into our Terms of Service.

1. Permitted Use

The Service is designed exclusively for religious organizations and faith communities. Permitted uses include:

Managing congregation members, households, and attendance records for a church or faith-based organization
Publishing sermons, worship content, and spiritual resources to congregation members
Collecting tithes, offerings, and charitable donations for the registered Organization's ministry activities
Coordinating volunteers, small groups, events, and pastoral care within the Organization
Communicating with members and visitors via email, SMS, and push notification features provided by the Service
Sharing the Organization's public information (staff, location, service times) via the member-facing portal

The Organization's account must represent an actual, operating religious or faith-based organization. Use of the Service by secular businesses, political organizations, or non-faith-based nonprofits is not permitted.

2. Prohibited Content

You may not use the Service to store, transmit, or distribute content that:

Is illegal or unlawful under applicable federal, state, or local law, including content that violates copyright, trademark, privacy, or defamation law
Constitutes harassment, abuse, or threats directed at any individual or group, including congregation members, staff, or third parties
Is obscene, sexually explicit, or pornographic in nature
Promotes hate, discrimination, or violence based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, or other protected characteristics
Facilitates fraud or deception, including impersonation of another person or organization
Contains malware, viruses, or malicious code intended to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to any system
Violates any individual's privacy rights, including sharing personal data of minors without appropriate parental consent

3. Prohibited Behaviors

You may not use the Service to:

Conduct commercial fundraising campaigns, subscription drives, or solicitations for any entity other than the registered Organization's own ministry
Promote, advertise, or sell third-party products or services to congregation members without their explicit consent
Operate a business, marketplace, or revenue-generating activity unrelated to the Organization's religious mission
Access or attempt to access any other tenant's account, data, or resources
Reverse-engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract the Service's source code or underlying infrastructure
Use automated bots, scrapers, or scripts to access the Service in a manner that places unreasonable load on our infrastructure
Resell, sublicense, or white-label the Service to other organizations without express written permission from Vine and Branch Software, LLC

4. Spam and Bulk Communication Rules

The Service includes email, SMS, and push notification features intended for legitimate pastoral and administrative communication with your congregation. These tools must not be used for spam or unsolicited bulk messaging. Specifically:

Consent required: All recipients of bulk email or SMS campaigns must be members or visitors of the Organization who have willingly provided their contact information. You may not import purchased, rented, or harvested contact lists.
Opt-out must be honored: Every bulk email must include a functional unsubscribe mechanism. Opt-out requests via any channel must be processed within 10 business days and permanently honored. You may not re-add opted-out recipients without their affirmative re-consent.
Accurate sender identity: Emails must clearly identify the Organization as the sender. You may not use deceptive subject lines, forged headers, or misleading "From" addresses.
Volume limits: Mass emails and SMS campaigns must be limited to genuine congregation communication. We reserve the right to rate-limit or suspend high-volume sending that appears inconsistent with normal church communication patterns.
No third-party promotion: Bulk communications may not be used to promote external businesses, political candidates or parties, or causes unrelated to the Organization's ministry.
CAN-SPAM and TCPA compliance: All electronic communications sent via the Service must comply with applicable law, including the CAN-SPAM Act (email), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (SMS), and any applicable state equivalents.

5. Data Storage Restrictions

You are responsible for the data you upload and store within the Service. The following restrictions apply:

Organizational data only: The Service may only be used to store data belonging to and relating to the Organization and its members. You may not use the Service as general-purpose cloud storage for personal files unrelated to the Organization's operations.
No regulated financial data: You may not store full payment card numbers, bank account numbers, or other payment credentials directly within the Service. Payment processing is handled by integrated third-party processors; raw payment data must not be entered into any free-text field.
Children's data: If you use the children's ministry features, you must obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from minors under the age of 13, in compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and any applicable state law.
Storage quotas: Each subscription plan includes a defined storage quota for uploaded files (sermon audio/video, documents, images). Exceeding your plan's quota may result in upload restrictions until additional storage is purchased or data is removed.
Accuracy: You are responsible for maintaining the accuracy of member data stored in the Service. Knowingly storing false or fabricated member records is prohibited.

6. Account Suspension and Termination

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate an Organization's account, with or without prior notice, for any of the following reasons:

Violation of this AUP, the Terms of Service, or any applicable law
Engaging in spam, bulk messaging abuse, or sending communications that generate significant recipient complaints
Storing or transmitting prohibited content as described in Section 2
Non-payment of applicable subscription fees
Using the Service in a manner that poses a security risk to other tenants or to our infrastructure
Fraudulent or misleading registration information (e.g., registering as a church when the Organization is not a faith-based entity)
Any confirmed attempt to access another tenant's data

In cases involving illegal content, imminent harm, or severe abuse, suspension may be immediate and without advance notice. In all other cases, we will attempt to provide at least 7 days' written notice to the account's administrator email address before termination, giving the Organization an opportunity to remedy the violation.

Upon termination, access to the Service will cease. Data may be exported prior to termination (see the Privacy Policy for data retention details). We are not liable for any loss of data resulting from account termination due to AUP violations.

7. Appeal Process

If your account is suspended or terminated and you believe the action was taken in error, you may appeal by following these steps:

Step 1 — Contact us: Send an email to legal@vineandbranch.app within 30 days of the suspension or termination notice. Include your Organization name, account email address, the nature of your appeal, and any relevant supporting information.
Step 2 — Review: We will acknowledge your appeal within 3 business days and complete an initial review within 10 business days of receipt.
Step 3 — Decision: We will communicate our decision in writing. If the appeal is granted, your account will be reinstated (subject to any remediation requirements we specify). If the appeal is denied, we will provide a brief explanation.
Step 4 — Data access during appeal: During the appeal period, we will make reasonable efforts to allow read-only data export, even if active use of the Service remains suspended.

Our decisions on appeals are final. We are not obligated to reinstate any account that has violated this AUP, and repeated violations may result in permanent ineligibility for the Service.

8. Reporting Violations

If you become aware of a potential AUP violation — including abusive communications originating from another Organization using the Service — please report it to legal@vineandbranch.app. We take all reports seriously and will investigate promptly.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Acceptable Use Policy from time to time. We will notify Organization administrators of material changes by email and by updating the effective date above. Continued use of the Service after any such update constitutes acceptance of the revised AUP.

10. Contact

Questions about this Acceptable Use Policy: legal@vineandbranch.app