Notebird vs Shepherd's Staff
Notebird is the better fit for a care team that logs visits, private notes, follow-up tasks, and milestones from any phone. Shepherd's Staff fits a church that needs a Windows-based database with membership, attendance, contributions, finance, and scheduling under one roof. Many churches keep Shepherd's Staff for records and add Notebird for care.
Notebird vs Shepherd's Staff at a glance
- You want follow-up tasks with owners and due dates, milestone reminders, and a daily Early Bird email so no one falls through the cracks.
- Deacons, elders, or volunteers should see only the people assigned to them, with private notes kept from those who do not need them.
- Your care team logs visits, calls, and prayer needs from phones, and some of them use Macs.
Bottom line: Notebird gives a care team mobile access on any phone, private notes, assigned follow-ups, milestone reminders, and a shared activity feed, either alone or alongside Shepherd's Staff. Shepherd's Staff is a Windows church database with a Touchpoints tab for visits, and it fits churches that want an owned license covering records, giving, finance, and scheduling. Notebird is the care tool; Shepherd's Staff is the office database.
Notebird vs Shepherd's Staff: features side by side
Shepherd's Staff is Windows desktop church management software from Concordia Technology Solutions that covers membership, attendance, contributions, scheduling, and finance for churches that want a one-time license. Sources for every Shepherd's Staff fact are listed at the end of this page.
| Feature | Notebird | Shepherd's Staff |
|---|---|---|
| Care notes per person Completed Touchpoints record who made contact, when, how, and a summary. A Notes button also sits on each Person Record. | Yes | Touchpoints and notes |
| Private (restricted) notes with permission control CTS says confidential notes are recorded securely and hidden from users without permission. Access is set per module or function, not per note. | Yes | Partial |
| Follow-up tasks assigned to a team member with due date Planned Touchpoints have a date, time, and a "To be made by" person. No documented reminders or open-task list per team member. | Yes | Partial |
| Milestones (birthdays, anniversaries, baptisms, custom) with reminders The Anniversaries grid lists birthdays, weddings, baptisms, and confirmations for lookup and reports. No documented automatic reminders. | Yes | Partial |
| Care reports (printable per-person care history) Any Membership view can be filtered and saved as a report. No documented per-person care history printout. | Yes | Partial |
| Team activity feed The Touchpoints Completed grid is a filterable table of past contacts, not a live team feed. | Yes | Not documented |
| Groups / care teams with per-team-member access Lists and grades group people. User access is limited by module or function, not by assigned people or groups. | Yes | Partial |
| Mobile access (phone and tablet) Runs on Windows 10 or 11. The WebTools browser portal (support plan required) handles attendance and offering entry only, and stores no confidential data online. | Mobile web app; add to home screen on iOS and Android, no store download | No |
| Full-text search across notes Search and filter boxes exist on most Membership views. No documented search across note or touchpoint text. | Yes | Partial |
| Sync with a church management system Shepherd's Staff syncs its directory to Church360° Unite and connects to Vanco eGiving and Paycor payroll. Notebird imports Shepherd's Staff people by CSV. | Planning Center, Breeze, Church Windows (direct); CSV import from others | Is the ChMS |
| Runs in the cloud Desktop program installed on church PCs. Networked use is included. Encrypted cloud backups need an active support plan. | Yes | No |
| Pricing model | Per user, graduated | One-time license per church, plus an annual support contract |
| Membership database Unlimited households and people, custom fields, directories, mailing labels, email and text. | People profiles only | Yes |
| Giving and contribution statements Contributions module with IRS-compliant statements. Online giving through the Vanco eGiving integration. | No | Yes |
| Child check-in Included in the base package with Attendance. | No | Yes |
| Event and facility scheduling Scheduler module for staff, rooms, services, equipment, and rentals. | No | Yes |
| Church website | No | Church360° Unite (separate CTS product) |
| Accounting Fund accounting, vendors, check printing, and Paycor payroll integration. | No | Finance module (paid add-on) |
Which one should you pick?
Why churches choose Notebird
- You want follow-up tasks with owners and due dates, milestone reminders, and a daily Early Bird email so no one falls through the cracks.
- Deacons, elders, or volunteers should see only the people assigned to them, with private notes kept from those who do not need them.
- Your care team logs visits, calls, and prayer needs from phones, and some of them use Macs.
- You already run Planning Center, Breeze, or Church Windows for records and want care data that syncs with it.
- You want a shared activity feed of the whole team's care work, not a filterable table of past contacts.
- You are happy with Shepherd's Staff for records and money, but want a simpler care tool next to it.
When Shepherd's Staff may fit better
- You want one Windows program that handles membership, attendance, contributions, finance, and room scheduling, and you would rather buy a license once than pay per user.
- Your church prefers to keep its data on its own computer or office network instead of in the cloud.
- You need contribution statements, check printing, payroll through Paycor, or denomination-specific reports.
- Your pastoral care is mostly one pastor scheduling visits from the office, so a Touchpoints tab inside the membership record is enough.
- You are a Lutheran or other congregation already served by Concordia Technology Solutions and want one vendor for software and support.
