How campaign funding and escrow works
Funding is what turns a campaign live and guarantees creators the money is there before they post.
- Fund up front. You deposit the campaign budget; the campaign shows a Funded badge once the full budget is covered.
- Funds are held until work clears. Deposited budget is held and released to creators as their approved clips clear.
- Pay for performance only. Approved creators are paid automatically for the views they deliver — creators never earn from budget that isn't spent.
- The fee follows the payouts. Every dollar you fund is budget. Shoot's 7% is charged as creators are paid — $100 to a creator uses $107 of budget — and the same 7% applies to any budget you take back unspent when you end the campaign. Budget you leave running costs nothing extra.
- Auto-pause protection. When accrued payouts reach the funded budget, the campaign auto-pauses and clips finalise, so you never overspend.
You can create a campaign unfunded and fund it later — it only goes live once it's funded.
Related articles
How to launch a campaign (for brands)
Build a campaign in the wizard — basics, budget, platforms & pay, content rules, access & proof — then fund it. Creators post clips, you approve them from a real-time queue, and you pay only for approved performance.
What's the minimum campaign budget?
The minimum budget to launch a campaign on Shoot is $500. Creators are only paid for approved views; Shoot's 7% applies to payouts and to budget you take back unspent.
What does the Funded badge mean?
The green Funded badge means the campaign's full budget is already deposited with Shoot and held until approved work clears — so the money is there before you post.
How to end a campaign (and what happens to unspent budget)
Funded campaigns are ended, not deleted: new submissions stop instantly, existing clips get up to 7 days to finish counting views, then the unspent budget returns to your Shoot wallet less Shoot's 7%.
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Last updated 2026-07-21