Working together · ChurchDesk as a partner
ChurchDesk – your strategic partner.
Born out of love for the church, now at home in over 10,000 parishes: ChurchDesk combines the capacity of an established company with the specialisation in church work – a partnership that is measured by its results and built to last.
Our story
Born out of love for the church – today at home in 10,000 parishes.
Founded in Copenhagen in 2010: As a teenager, Christian Steffensen built websites for his own parish on a voluntary basis – and realised that the church needs digital tools to reach people. The project in our own living room became a professional company.
Today, over 80 employees from many nations and faiths work in Berlin, Copenhagen and Oslo for more than 10,000 churches and parishes across Europe – with their own management team and a Scandinavian-influenced corporate culture: trust, flexibility, balance.
Why ChurchDesk exists.
I grew up in a church environment and have seen churches that have been overtaken by change. Our mission has been the same since 2010: helping churches reach people where they are.
Differentiation
What makes us the right partner for dioceses and regional churches.
Four structural differences that separate ChurchDesk from smaller providers:
Scalable expertise
Ready for immediate use and proven in 15 dioceses and regional churches. Each function is based on the knowledge and requirements of over 10,000 church organisations across Europe.
Proven introductory excellence
Over 5,000 completed training courses, a proven onboarding concept for simultaneous parish roll-outs and a customer health score for data-based control of adoption.
Compliance standards
GDPR, DSG-EKD and KDG proven, ISO 27001 certification in preparation – completion expected in 2026. Development and hosting exclusively in the EU, “declaration of submission” as standard.
Corporate stability
Over 15 years of experience, four European locations and more than 80 specialists in dedicated teams – organised without critical person dependencies, for long-term stability and reliable operation.
The comparison
Why ChurchDesk is the right choice.
Seven criteria – in comparison to in-house development and smaller providers.
| criterion | ChurchDesk | In-house development / small provider |
|---|---|---|
| Long-term stability | 15 years on the market, four European locations, over 80 employees – still there in ten years. | Small providers depend on a small team. Budget and risk flow into IT instead of pastoral care. |
| Ready to launch & scalable | Ready for immediate use – tested in many dioceses, such as Mainz, Fulda, Essen, Cologne and Aachen. | 12-24 months project duration; 60-70% of all in-house IT developments fall short of budget, time or quality. |
| Compliance & Security | GDPR, DSG-EKD and KDG verified in an auditable manner; Pentests, SIEM, EDR – ISO 27001 certification in preparation. | Compliance is often assured but not certified. Security can hardly be audited, technology is gradually becoming outdated. |
| Costs & risk | Fixed flat rate: The risk lies with ChurchDesk – not your organisation. | Project budget plus follow-up costs: Every new requirement becomes a follow-up project with its own procurement. |
| Updates & Roadmap | Maintenance and updates included – own product team, product manager, summit forum. | Each update is a new project; the roadmap depends on the day-to-day business of an owner. |
| Implementation expertise | Over 5,000 completed training courses, own onboarding team, proven 4-phase methodology. | Onboarding mostly only when necessary – no repeatable methodology, no dedicated team. |
| Support | German-speaking multi-channel team – no individual risk. | A single contact person as a single point of failure – in the event of illness or termination, operations come to a standstill. |
The lower headline price of an in-house development or a small provider is an illusion – as soon as you take follow-up costs and risks into account.
Your team at ChurchDesk
Not an anonymous provider – a team that supports you personally.
Behind your platform are dedicated specialists who work directly in your organisation and your parishes – capabilities you do not have to build internally.
Gianna ZippCustomer Success Manager
Konrad Müller-HofmannCustomer Success Manager
Lara GehlhaarCustomer Success Manager
Regina SchönhofProject Manager
Leave JoostOnboarding & Activation Specialist
Bianca StraphelOnboarding & Activation Specialist
Jochen GeckOnboarding & Activation Specialist
Johanna MenzelMulti-channel support
Jonas OstengaardProfessional Services
Fabio MahalingamEnterprise Account Executive
Robert TimmlerEnterprise Account Executive
Kenneth SvenningsenCPO
Matthias HaamannCTO
Stephan ChristensenSecurity & Compliance
Hanno TerbuykenCountry Manager DACH
Florian RadlingerHead of Enterprise- Christian SteffensenCEO & Founder
Michael AssamCFO
Over 80 specialists in development, support and customer success – organised without critical person dependencies, for long-term stability and reliable operation.
Risk mitigation
What happens when something goes wrong?
Four answers that we guarantee contractually when making a decision of this magnitude:
- The concern
Data export
Our answerComplete data export guaranteed at all times – in open formats, without lock-in. Guaranteed by contract.
- The concern
Business Continuity
Our answerRedundant infrastructure, documented emergency plans, EU hosting in certified data centres – no single point of failure.
- The concern
Liability & Insurance
Our answerDefined liability regulations with business and cyber insurance – secured by an established company.
- The concern
Provider continuity
Our answerOver 15 years on the market, more than 80 employees in three EU countries – we will still be there in ten years because we have been there for 15 years.
Dioceses and regional churches trust ChurchDesk.
- 10,000+
- Churches and parishes in Europe
- 5,000+
- completed training
- 15+
- years of market presence
- 80+
- Employees at four European locations
Voices
From the management level to the parish.
Church leaders who introduced ChurchDesk speak for themselves.
With the introduction of ChurchDesk, we as a diocese can give the parishes real digital support for their everyday work. ChurchDesk allows us to work more efficiently.
In cooperation with ChurchDesk, we provide the parishes with a tool that makes work much easier thanks to the accompanied onboarding – and thus serves our core task of 'proclaiming the Gospel' in a targeted manner.
ChurchDesk is the best system for churches. There is an exceptional introduction by ChurchDesk and fast support.
Get to know the team behind the platform.
A non-binding initial consultation – with the people who would support your organisation.