Privacy
Manna is a ministry assistant that helps churches stay connected with their people on WhatsApp. It is provided by M-Chat (Pty) Ltd ("M-Chat", "we"). This notice explains what personal information Manna handles, why, and your rights under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
Who is responsible
Each church using Manna decides why its members' information is collected and is the responsible party for it. M-Chat processes that information on the church's behalf, as operator. For information collected on this website (church sign ups and gifts), M-Chat is the responsible party. Our Information Officer is registered with the Information Regulator (Reg# 2026-024052) and can be reached at hello@getmanna.ai.
What we collect from church members
- Your WhatsApp number and the name you give us
- Your date of birth, if you share it, so your church can wish you a happy birthday
- How you'd like your church to stay in touch
- Event bookings you make
- Messages you send to your church's Manna number, so they can be answered and, where needed, passed to the right person
For a church's insight reports, we keep only the type of request and when it was made (for example, "prayer request, Tuesday"), not your name or your words. Questions about faith may be kept without your name so your pastor can see what people are asking about.
What we collect on this website
- Church sign up: church name, city, pastor's name, denomination, church WhatsApp number, and your name, role, WhatsApp number and email
- Gifts: processed by PayFast. We receive the amount, your email and a payment reference. We never see or store your card details.
- Site analytics: we use Microsoft Clarity to understand how the site is used.
Why we use it
- To answer your messages on behalf of your church
- To pass prayer requests, needs and new member details to the people your church has chosen
- If a message suggests someone may be in crisis, to share a helpline and alert the church, so a person can reach out
- To send birthday messages and event information you've asked for
- To set up Manna for a church and to process and acknowledge gifts
We do not sell personal information, show advertising, or use your messages to train shared models.
Who helps us
To run Manna we use trusted service providers: Meta (WhatsApp), MChat and its messaging platform, Cloudflare (hosting and storage), Anthropic (understanding and replying to messages), Monday.com (church operations records), Netlify (this website) and PayFast (gifts). Some of these providers store information outside South Africa, mainly in the United States and Europe. We only use providers bound by agreements that protect personal information to a standard comparable to POPIA.
How long we keep it
Member information is kept while your church uses Manna. If your church stops using Manna, or you ask us to remove your information, we delete it within 90 days, unless the law requires us to keep it. Records of gifts are kept for five years, as South African tax law requires.
Your rights
You can ask to see, correct or delete the information held about you, or object to its use, by contacting your church or emailing hello@getmanna.ai. You may also complain to the Information Regulator (inforeg.org.za).
Not an emergency service
Manna is not a counselling or emergency service. If you or someone else is in danger, call 10111 or SADAG on 0800 567 567.