What best practices are important to consider when setting up MDF or Co-op Funds?

What best practices are important to consider when setting up MDF or Co-op Funds?


Access: Don't have access to the Marketing Development Funds (MDF) or Co-op Funds module? Contact your platform administrator or support@mindmatrix.net for more information.


Implementation: Operating an MDF or Co-op Funds module is a multi-step process
  1. Setting up the Fund Plans and identifying related expense activity types which Partners may request for reimbursement.
  2. Sharing the Fund Plan to respective organizations or organization groups.
  3. Notifying Partners of available Fund Plans and providing learning opportunities to enable Partners to take advantage of their Fund Plans
  4. Managing MDF or Co-Op Fund Plan approvals and reimbursements.

For more information on operating Fund Plans, check out these related KB Articles:

Partners develop materials or conduct events as part of the process of selling Vendors’ offerings, and Vendors allocate fund to reimburse the Partners for the expense. Marketing Development Funds (MDF) or Co-op Funds help enable Partners to expand the market of the product by ensuring financial resources to support their efforts. 

This article details recommendations to consider when implementing MDF or Co-op Fund Plans.

Defining a Fund Plan

Creating different Fund Plans allows Vendors to segment MDF and Co-op Fund Requests to match a Vendors’ fiscal calendar as well as tools for Vendors to ease tracking and reporting. Partners can also benefit from segmented Fund Plans as it may encourage business planning.

Segment Fund Plans by:
  1. Period: Quarterly or Yearly
  2. Region/Territory
  3. Partner Type
  4. Partner Tier



Defining Categories of Activities

Within each Fund Plan, the Vendor can specify categories of activities that Partners can select.

Example categories of Activities to include:
  1. Lead generation
  2. Events (conferences, lunch and learns, webinars)
  3. Training/education
  4. Telemarketing
  5. Online ads
  6. Swag/merchandise
  7. Concierge services: Use X amount of marketing dollars for help from channel marketers to run a campaign



Every vendor is at a different stage of their journey.  Some vendors just starting out like to create a single Fund Plan for all types of MDF and Co-Op Fund reimbursement requests.  After the program is established, the vendor can then review the Partner expenses and consider how to segment the Fund Plans and activities. Creating specific categories of activities gives the vendor’s more control over their partners’ marketing activities.

Spread the Word

Email Notifications

When a Fund Plan is shared with an Organization or Organization Group, there is an option to “Send Notifications to Users” and/or to “Send Notification to Managers.” Selecting either option will send an automatic email notification to the related individual.

“Send Notification to Users” is a great way to inform Partners directly that their organization is eligible to request MDF or Co-op Funds.

“Send Notification to Managers'' notifies the Channel Manager. As Channel Manager’s meet with their Partners, the Channel Manager can bring attention to the Fund Plans available and can help support the Partner in understanding expenses that are eligible to request for reimbursement. The Channel Manager can also share additional resources with the Partner to support them.




Platform Announcements

For Partners already visiting the Partner Portal, set up a pop up announcement or custom web banner to share info about available Fund Plans.

Webinars

When initially introducing an MDF or Co-Op Fund Plan, webinars provide an environment for Partners to learn about the objectives and processes of the Fund Plans. MDF and Co-op Fund Plans may be an entirely new concept to some Partners. It is important to take a moment to educate Partners on how Fund Plans can enable their selling process.

In addition to an introductory webinar, Vendor’s may offer intermittent webinars focusing on a specific category of activity within the Fund Plan.  For example, a Vendor is Southern California may host a webinar talking about upcoming industry conferences in the region where Partners may participate and may submit conference related expenses for reimbursement. Webinars focused on specific categories of activities help the Vendor control marketing activities.

Email Engagement

In addition to the initial email notification that can be sent when the Fund Plan is created and shared with an organization or organization group, starting an engagement campaign can raise awareness about the available Fund Plans.

An engagement campaign about available Fund Plans is a way to:
  1. Connect with Partners
  2. Bring attention to the valuable resource being provided to Partners
  3. Educate
  4. Remind Partners to submit their expenses



Keep it Simple
Building MDF or Co-op Fund Plans are a great way to engage Partners! The complexity of the Fund Plan may be determined by the Partner Program maturity. This article provides a number of recommendations and while it is possible to create a very complex and advanced Fund Plan, there are plenty of ways to keep the process simple in the initial phase.

Contact your Strategic Consultant at Mindmatrix who can help outline a Fund Plan that will best suit your business requirements. 


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