Helpful Saints

Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 15, 2026

Helpful Saints (“we,” “us,” “our”) is a Christian ministry and services organization serving Greater Winona, Minnesota. This policy explains what information we collect through helpfulsaints.org, how we use it, and the choices you have.

Who we are and how to reach us

Helpful Saints
409 Lincoln St, Winona, MN 55987
Email: thehelpfulsaints@gmail.com
Phone: (507) 858-7778

Information you give us

We collect information you choose to send through our forms:

• Contact, prayer, volunteer, and employment forms: name, email, phone, preferred contact method, and your message. Prayer requests also record sharing preference (private, anonymous, or with your name) and whether you want follow-up. Volunteer and employment applications include availability, skills or experience, references, transportation, and background-check acknowledgment. Employment applicants may upload a résumé (PDF, DOC, or DOCX), stored encrypted and privately.
• Free Bible requests: your contact details, the recipient’s name and relationship to you, language, format, delivery preference, and any address or delivery notes.
• Help requests and estimates: a description of the work, service area or address, scheduling preferences, and other details you share. You may optionally upload photos or videos. Please leave out faces, children, IDs, financial or medical documents, and similar sensitive details. On help requests, please don’t include diagnoses or medication details. On the estimate page, optional AI review of uploads is used only if you check the box to allow it; that feature may not be available yet.
• Accounts: if you create a free account, we keep your account details and related activity (for example, saved research, requests, and membership savings).

Each form asks you to authorize contact about your submission. A person reviews every submission. AI tools may help organize or summarize it, but people make the decisions.

Information collected automatically

• Analytics: We use Google Analytics through Google Site Kit (tag GT-WV3C76VX) to understand site usage, such as pages viewed, approximate location, and device and browser type. Google sets its own cookies for this.
• Abuse protection: To limit spam and overuse, we temporarily count requests per connection. Some features store only a scrambled (hashed) version of your IP address. These counters expire within about an hour.
• Server logs: Helpful Saints runs its own cPanel/WHM server (server1.helpfulsaints.org). Standard technical logs (IP address, browser type, pages requested) are kept for a limited time for security and troubleshooting.

Cookies and browser storage

• Sign-in cookies: WordPress uses cookies to keep you signed in.
• Preference and feature cookies: Some features may set cookies to remember preferences or keep site behavior consistent between visits.
• Analytics cookies: Google’s analytics cookies are described above.
• Browser storage: Some tools save drafts or preferences in your browser’s local storage. That information stays on your device unless you send it to us.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Some features, such as signing in, may not work without them.

Scripture AI

When you ask the Scripture AI a question—whether or not you are signed in—your question is processed to find relevant Scripture and sources. Subject to daily usage limits, we may send your question and related context to OpenAI, our AI provider, to prepare an answer. OpenAI may keep the request briefly so the answer can be retrieved.

• Our search log records a scrambled (hashed) version of your question, not its text, along with basic statistics.
• For visitors who aren’t signed in, recent conversation turns are kept for up to 7 days so follow-up questions make sense. They’re linked to a hashed connection identifier, not your name.
• If you’re signed in, research you choose to save stays in your account.
• Optional “listen” (text-to-speech) features also use OpenAI.

Please don’t enter personal or sensitive information in your questions. The Scripture AI is a research aid. It doesn’t speak with divine authority and can make mistakes.

Donations and payments

Donation and payment buttons take you to secure checkout pages hosted by Square or Stripe (including the “Donate to Bible Fund” link). Each processor collects card and billing information under its own privacy policy. Neither Square nor Stripe shares your full card number with us. We receive donation records—such as name, amount, date, and contact details—for our records and receipts. Service invoices may also be paid through Square.

Helpful Saints is not a registered 501(c)(3) organization at this time, so donations are not tax-deductible. If that status changes, we will update this policy.

How we use information

We use your information to respond to you, provide services and estimates, process Bible requests and applications, pray for requests you share (within the sharing level you choose), keep records of gifts, improve the site, and protect it from abuse. We do not sell your personal information.

Who we share it with

We share information only as needed to run our ministry:

• Our team: Form submissions are emailed to our authorized administrator team, whose inboxes are provided by companies like Google and Yahoo.
• Service providers: Google (analytics and email), OpenAI (AI answers, speech, and—only if you opt in on the estimate page—review of uploaded photos and video), Square and Stripe for payments, and our own web host (server1.helpfulsaints.org).
• Legal reasons: We may share information when required by law or to protect someone’s safety.

We communicate with you by email. We do not send text messages (SMS) at this time. If we add text messaging later, it will be opt-in only, and we will update this policy first.

How long we keep information

• AI request content: about 14 days
• Anonymous Scripture AI conversation history: up to 7 days
• Rate-limit counters: about 1 hour
• Email delivery records: up to 3 years
• Prayer requests: only as long as needed for the purpose you gave us; we’ll remove them on request
• Records of requests, services, applications, and gifts: as long as needed for ministry, accounting, and legal purposes
• Server logs: for a limited time for security and troubleshooting

When you ask us to erase your information, we delete uploaded files. We may keep a minimal record of completed services or approved applications where the law or good recordkeeping requires.

Your choices and rights

You can ask us to show you, correct, or delete the personal information we hold about you, or to stop contacting you. Email or write to us using the contact details above. We’ll verify your request and respond within a reasonable time. You can also block cookies and choose not to upload photos or use AI features.

Children

Our website is not directed to children under 13, and we don’t knowingly collect their personal information online. A parent or guardian may request a Bible or help on a child’s behalf. If you believe a child has sent us information, contact us and we’ll delete it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as our ministry and website change. We’ll post the new version on this page with a new effective date.

Questions? Contact Helpful Saints at 409 Lincoln St, Winona, MN 55987, or thehelpfulsaints@gmail.com.