--- title: Cash rewards overview slug: cash-rewards-overview docTags: createdAt: 2026-09-23T17:40:23.291Z --- Cash rewards let you pay ambassadors real money for **doing the work** — completing a campaign or reaching a milestone tier — not just for driving a sale. This guide covers how to set them up, how ambassadors earn them, and how they get paid. :::BlockQuote **Cash rewards vs. referral commissions. **A *referral commission *pays an ambassador for a sale they drive. A *cash reward *pays them for completing a campaign or hitting a milestone tier — regardless of whether a sale happened. Both are real money and both pay out through the same batches, so ambassadors get one payment covering both. ::: *** ## Before you start: set up a payment gateway Because a cash reward is a promise of money, it's only available once your brand has a way to pay. You'll need **either** Automated Payments **or** a PayPal & Venmo gateway configured — the same payment options referral commissions use. Either one is enough. Until a gateway is set up, **Cash Reward still appears in the reward menu but is greyed out**, with a link to your payment settings so you know exactly how to unlock it. :::BlockQuote **Already offering cash and later remove your gateway? **Existing cash campaigns and rewards keep working, and anything ambassadors have already earned is still owed and will still be paid. Removing a gateway only blocks you from creating *new *cash rewards. ::: *** ## Add a cash reward to a campaign - In the campaign builder, open the **Add Reward** menu and choose **Cash Reward** (alongside Points, Discount Code, Automated Product, Manual Product, and Custom). - Enter the **amount**. It uses your brand's configured currency and must be greater than zero. - The **trigger is fixed to "Upon Completing"** — ambassadors earn the cash when they complete the campaign, never just for joining. - Publish the campaign. The amount appears on the campaign brief so ambassadors see it **before they join**. - Once a campaign is published, the cash amount becomes **read-only** and the reward can't be removed — ambassadors have already seen and accepted the offer, so the promise can't change underneath them. *** ## Add a cash reward to a milestone tier You can also attach cash to a milestone tier, so ambassadors earn money by accumulating points (from actions, campaigns, and referrals) and reaching that tier. - On the milestone tier, choose **Cash Reward** (alongside Discount Code, Automated Product, Manual Product, and Custom). Points aren't a milestone reward — points are what *unlock* the tier. - Enter the amount, just like on a campaign. - The ambassador earns the cash when they reach the tier — e.g. *"Earn $25 when you reach 500 points."* - The amount **locks once the tier is live**, for the same reason campaign amounts lock. *** ## Give a one-off cash reward (manual) You don't have to tie every cash reward to a campaign or milestone. From **Payments → Rewards → Cash Rewards**, use **New cash reward** to pay an ambassador directly: - Choose the **ambassador**, enter an **amount**, and add a short **note** explaining what it's for. - The note matters — a manual reward has no campaign or milestone behind it, so the note is how you (and your team) remember why it was paid. - Manual cash rewards need a payment gateway configured, just like every other cash reward. *** ## How cash rewards get approved and paid Every cash reward moves through the same status ladder: :::Paragraph{indent="5"} **Pending** → **Approved** → **Paid** (or **Rejected**) ::: 1. **Earned.** When a campaign is completed or a tier is reached, the cash reward is created for that ambassador. 2. **Approved.** Cash rewards follow whatever submission-approval setting you already use — automatic, or manual review. Rejecting a submission means no cash reward is created. You can review and bulk approve/reject from the **Cash Rewards** tab and from each campaign's and milestone's Rewards tab. 3. **Paid.** Approved cash accrues to the ambassador's balance and pays out in the **next payment batch** — the same batch as their referral commissions. One payout process, one reconciliation. :::BlockQuote **Where to find it: **cash rewards live under **Payments → Rewards**, on a new **Cash Rewards **tab beside your existing Referral Rewards. Each cash row shows the ambassador, its source (which campaign or milestone tier, or "Manual"), the date earned, its status, and the amount. In **Unsent payments**, an ambassador's payment now totals their referral commissions *plus *their cash rewards, and the breakdown popup itemizes each. ::: If you have automated payments set up, your **minimum payment amount** (if you've set one) applies to the combined total, and tax handling works exactly as it does for commissions — nothing changes about how payouts, taxes, or wallets work. *** ## What ambassadors see - **On the campaign brief (before joining):** a "What you'll earn" list shows the cash amount with the note *"Paid in the next qualified payment batch."* - **On their Rewards page:** a cash reward card leads with the amount (e.g. $50.00), shows which campaign or tier it came from, and its status. There's no button to click — the cash simply arrives in a payout. - **On Milestones:** a tier offering cash shows the amount right on the tier. :::BlockQuote **Why a payout can be larger than the "commissions" figure. **Cash rewards and referral commissions are paid together in one batch, but the ambassador's Referrals page shows commissions only. So an ambassador might see, say,*"commissions: $37.40" *there and receive a larger amount — the difference is their cash rewards, which are listed individually (with their own statuses) on the Rewards page. If an ambassador asks why their payout is higher than their commission total, that's why. ::: *** ## Good to know - **All-or-nothing.** The full amount is owed once the campaign is complete (or the tier reached) — there's no partial or per-task payout. - **No up-front charge.** There's no escrow, prefunding, or budget cap — the reward is created on completion and paid in the normal batch. - **Flat amounts.** Cash rewards are a single set amount, not performance-based tiers, CPM, or bonuses. - **A campaign can offer cash *and* points.** They're shown side by side and never added together — points go to the points balance, cash to the cash balance. *** ## Need help? If you have any questions or need assistance, please reach out to our team at [support@getroster.com](mailto\:support@getroster.com).