Campaign and Backer Terms

1Scope and agreement

These Terms apply whenever a member creates, promotes, or funds a campaign through FocalShift AI, and whenever a member sends or receives a tip through the Services. The member running a campaign is the “Creator.” A person who contributes to a campaign is a “Backer.” These Terms supplement the Terms of Service, the Network Commerce and Marketplace Terms, and the Subscription, Billing, Cancellation, and Refund Policy, and control over those documents on the subjects covered here.

Campaigns run through the FocalShift campaign feature are a supported use of the Services and are not the third-party fundraising activity restricted by the Prohibited and Restricted Businesses Policy. Both Creator and Backer accept these Terms by creating or funding a campaign.

2A contribution is not a retail purchase

A contribution to a campaign is a payment to the Creator in support of a project the Creator intends to carry out. It is not a retail purchase, a pre-order, a store transaction, an investment, a loan, or a deposit. A reward, perk, or acknowledgment described in a campaign is a benefit the Creator promises in connection with that support; it is not merchandise sold by FocalShift AI, and describing it does not make the campaign a shop.

A campaign may not offer equity, profit participation, revenue share, interest, repayment, dividends, tokens, or any other security or investment return, and may not promise a financial gain from contributing. A campaign may not solicit charitable donations or present a contribution as tax-deductible. Backing a campaign carries the risk that the project changes, is delayed, is scaled back, or is not completed at all.

3The Creator is the sole obligor

The Creator alone is responsible to Backers for the campaign: for the accuracy and completeness of every statement in it; for the feasibility of the project; for producing, fulfilling, shipping, and supporting every reward promised; for delivery timing and for communicating changes to it; for warranties, safety, product compliance, labeling, and licensing; for taxes, duties, and customs; for its own privacy notice and lawful handling of Backer information; and for resolving disputes with Backers.

A Creator must describe the project honestly, state what is finished and what is not, state material risks and dependencies, use its own images and prototypes or clearly label anything that is a rendering or illustration, keep Backers informed of material developments including delays and cost changes, and not use a Backer list for unrelated marketing without consent. A Creator that cannot complete the project must say so promptly, explain what happened, state what was spent and on what, and offer a remedy — completing an alternative, delivering a partial reward, or refunding — and must carry that remedy out.

4FocalShift AI is not a guarantor

FocalShift AI provides the technology that lets a Creator publish a campaign and lets a Backer contribute. FocalShift AI is not the seller of any reward, is not a party to the arrangement between Creator and Backer unless a transaction record expressly identifies FocalShift AI as the merchant of record, is not an agent, broker, trustee, escrow agent, fiduciary, insurer, or guarantor for either of them, and does not hold contributions in trust for Backers.

FocalShift AI does not verify a Creator’s identity beyond what its verification features state, does not review or endorse a project’s feasibility, does not test or certify a reward, does not guarantee that any campaign will fund, deliver, or perform, and does not guarantee any statement a Creator makes. FocalShift AI may remove, pause, or refuse a campaign, and may hold, delay, reverse, or return funds, under these Terms and the Acceptable Use Policy, but has no obligation to police campaigns and assumes no duty to a Backer by doing so.

5Fees, payment processing, and totals

Platform fees, payment-processing costs, currency conversion, and any applicable minimum are shown in the campaign interface and at checkout before a contribution is confirmed, and in the Creator’s dashboard before a campaign is published. Those are the fees that apply to the campaign and contributions made while they are displayed; we may change fees prospectively on notice, and a change does not alter a contribution already made. A Creator receives the contribution net of those amounts. A Backer is charged the total shown at confirmation.

Payments are handled by our payment providers under their own terms. Contributions are collected in the currency shown; the Backer’s card issuer or bank may apply its own conversion or cross-border fee, which FocalShift AI does not control. Payouts to a Creator are subject to the timing, verification, hold, reserve, and offset rules in the Network Commerce and Marketplace Terms and the Billing Policy.

6Funding models, failed campaigns, and cancellation

Each campaign states its funding model, goal, and deadline in the campaign interface. Where a campaign is all-or-nothing, contributions are collected or released to the Creator only if the stated goal is met by the deadline; if it is not met, authorizations are released or contributions are returned to the original payment method, and no reward obligation arises. Where a campaign keeps what it raises, the Creator receives contributions whether or not the goal is met, and remains fully responsible for every reward promised in exchange for the contributions it accepted.

A Backer may cancel a pending contribution before funds are captured, using the control in the campaign, unless the campaign states otherwise. A Creator may cancel its own campaign before the deadline; on cancellation, uncaptured authorizations are released and the Creator must promptly refund captured contributions except to the extent it has already delivered the corresponding reward. FocalShift AI may cancel or suspend a campaign that violates these Terms, the Prohibited and Restricted Businesses Policy, or law, or that presents a fraud or safety risk, and may return contributions to Backers where funds have not been paid out.

7Refunds

Refunds of contributions are directed by the Creator, because the Creator received the funds and owes the reward. A Backer seeking a refund should contact the Creator first through the campaign. Where a Creator agrees to refund, and where funds have not yet been paid out or a balance is available, FocalShift AI may facilitate the refund through the original payment method as a convenience; where funds have been paid out, the refund is between the Backer and the Creator.

FocalShift AI may, at its discretion and without creating an obligation to do so in any other case, return contributions to Backers where a campaign is cancelled or removed for fraud, misrepresentation, or a policy violation, where a Creator abandons a campaign, or where law requires. Nothing in these Terms limits a Backer’s rights under mandatory consumer-protection law, or a Creator’s obligation to honor a refund it promised in its own campaign terms. A Creator’s stated refund policy in a campaign is binding on the Creator.

8Chargebacks and disputes

If a Backer initiates a chargeback or payment dispute, the disputed amount, plus any dispute fee charged by the payment network or provider, is allocated to the Creator who received the proceeds and may be deducted from current or future payouts, recovered from a reserve, offset against other balances, or invoiced if payouts are insufficient — unless FocalShift AI was the merchant of record for that contribution, or the dispute arose from FocalShift AI’s own error.

The Creator must provide evidence of the campaign terms, communications, and fulfillment on request so a dispute can be answered. We may hold a reserve against expected disputes, delay a payout during investigation, and restrict campaign or payout features where dispute rates are elevated. A Backer should contact the Creator and then use the marketplace dispute path before initiating a chargeback; abusive or fraudulent chargebacks may result in account restriction. Disputes between Creator and Backer are theirs to resolve; FocalShift AI may mediate informally and may decide only how FocalShift features and funds within them are used.

9Backer acknowledgment of risk

By contributing, a Backer acknowledges and accepts that: the project may be delayed, changed, reduced in scope, substituted, or never completed; a reward may differ from what was illustrated; the Creator may run out of money, close its business, or become unable to fulfill; FocalShift AI does not guarantee delivery, quality, safety, or refund and is not liable for the Creator’s failure; the Backer has made its own assessment of the Creator and the project; and the Backer’s remedy for non-delivery is against the Creator. Contribute only what you are prepared to lose if the project does not succeed.

10Tips and gratuities

A tip is a voluntary gratuity to a member in appreciation of that member’s work. A tip buys nothing: no goods, no service, no reward, no access, no priority, and no obligation of any kind on the recipient. Tips are final and non-refundable once sent, except where law requires or where FocalShift AI reverses a payment for fraud, error, or a policy violation. A member may not condition access, delivery, ranking, or service on receiving a tip, and may not solicit tips for a third party. Tips are subject to platform and processing fees disclosed before sending, and are generally taxable income to the recipient — see Tax Information.

11Prohibited campaigns

A campaign may not fund or promote anything prohibited by the Acceptable Use Policy or the Prohibited and Restricted Businesses Policy. In addition, a campaign may not: be run on behalf of an undisclosed third party; solicit for a charity, cause, political campaign, or organization the Creator does not represent; offer securities, investment returns, repayment, or lending; offer prohibited, recalled, unsafe, counterfeit, infringing, or age-restricted items; fund medical treatment or make medical or health claims without the required approvals; use fabricated prototypes, stolen imagery, undisclosed AI-generated depictions of a finished product, or fake endorsements; use undisclosed self-funding, fake backers, or manipulated funding totals; or present an atypical outcome as typical.

12Taxes

Contributions and tips received are generally business income to the recipient rather than gifts, and may be reported to tax authorities at gross before fees, refunds, and fulfillment costs. Creators are responsible for income tax, for any sales tax, value-added tax, or goods-and-services tax that applies where a reward is in substance a sale, for customs and duties on shipped rewards, and for any non-US obligation. Backers may not treat a contribution as a charitable donation. See Tax Information. FocalShift AI does not provide tax advice.

13Backer information and communications

A Creator receives the information needed to fulfill and support a contribution — such as name, contact details, reward selection, and any shipping address the Backer provides — and becomes a controller of that information. A Creator must use it only to fulfill and support the campaign, provide its own privacy notice, keep it secure, honor deletion and opt-out requests, and comply with the member-communications rules in the Network Commerce and Marketplace Terms. Campaign updates are part of fulfillment; unrelated marketing requires separate consent. Public campaign pages, contribution activity where a Backer chooses to be shown, comments, and updates may be visible to anyone.

14Enforcement, changes, and contact

We may review, label, limit, pause, remove, or refuse a campaign; require corrections or substantiation; hold, reverse, or return funds; restrict campaign, payout, or account features; and act under the Account Suspension and Termination Policy. We may update these Terms as the campaign product, risk controls, payment practices, and legal requirements change; a campaign already funded remains subject to mandatory law and the material terms shown when the contribution was made.

Campaign questions, reward disputes, and reports may be submitted through FocalShift Contact.