MDF & Co-op Funds

Intro. Vendors hand channel partners two kinds of marketing money: MDF (market development funds), discretionary dollars given in advance to drive future demand, and co-op funds, which you earn as a percentage of what you've already bought or sold. Both pay for campaigns, events and lead generation - and both are lost the same way, to deadlines, pre-approval rules and missing proof of performance. This cluster defines every term you need to claim them on time, from your perspective.

Foundations (Tier A - already built):

• MDF (market development funds) - discretionary marketing dollars given in advance
• MDF vs co-op funds - how the two differ and why it matters

Supporting terms (Tier B):

• Co-op funds - marketing money earned as a percentage of past purchases or sales
• MDF claim - the submission that turns approved MDF activity into reimbursement
• Co-op claim - claiming against your accrued co-op balance
• Proof of performance (POP) - the evidence that gets a claim paid
• Pre-approval - vendor sign-off before you spend
• Reimbursement - how and when funds are paid back
• Fund expiration - the deadline that forfeits unspent funds
• Use-it-or-lose-it funds - funds that vanish if unspent in the window
• Activity plan - the proposal you submit for pre-approval
• Co-branded campaign - partner-and-vendor marketing, often funded by MDF/co-op
• Demand generation - the activity most marketing funds exist to drive
• Through-channel marketing automation (TCMA) - the vendor platform that distributes campaigns to partners
• Claim rejection - why claims get denied and how to avoid it