ELG Portal · MDF Early access
The full MDF lifecycle in one auditable workflow.
Market development funds are usually run out of a spreadsheet, an email thread, and somebody's memory. That works until finance asks what the money bought. MDF Fund Management gives every dollar a request, an approver, a claim with proof, and a measurable outcome.
ELG Portal is in early access: this page describes what we're building with our first channel teams. Join early access to shape it.
Six stages, one system of record
Budget
Allocate funds by program, region, partner tier, or quarter. Committed, pending, and remaining balances update as requests move.
Request
Partners submit through a structured form: activity type, target audience, expected pipeline, and requested amount. No more PDF attachments.
Approve
Multi-step approval with thresholds — channel manager under $10k, finance above it. Every decision timestamped with the approver and rationale.
Claim
Partners upload proof of performance: invoices, campaign assets, attendee lists, lead exports. Claims validate against the approved request.
Pay
Approved claims produce a payable record with reference numbers, so finance reconciles against your ledger instead of an inbox.
Prove ROI
Each dollar links to the pipeline and closed revenue it produced, by partner and by activity type.
The three questions MDF always fails
Where did the funds go?
Real-time budget burn by program and partner, so you're never surprised at quarter end.
Who approved this?
A complete audit trail on every request, claim, and payment — exportable for finance and compliance.
Did it work?
Activity-level ROI tied to attributed pipeline, so next year's allocation is a decision, not a guess.
In short
What MDF Fund Management does
MDF Fund Management runs your market development fund program from budget to ROI in one place. Partners request funds through a structured form, approvers decide with the full context, claims are checked against proof of performance, and every paid dollar is linked to the pipeline it influenced.
Finance gets an audit trail for every request, approval, claim and payment, and channel leaders get the numbers to decide next year's allocation.
ELG Portal is in early access: this describes what we're building with our first channel teams. Join early access to see it and shape it.
Spreadsheets vs. MDF Fund Management
| Spreadsheets, decks and shared drives | With PredictiveDeployment | |
|---|---|---|
| Requests | PDFs and email threads | A structured request with activity, audience and amount |
| Approvals | Hard to prove who approved what | Every decision timestamped with approver and reason |
| Claims | Proof chased by email | Proof uploaded and checked against the approved request |
| ROI | Estimated at year end | Linked to attributed pipeline and revenue |
Frequently asked questions
What are market development funds (MDF)?
Market development funds are money a vendor gives its channel partners to run marketing and sales activities that grow demand for the vendor's products, such as events, campaigns and webinars. Partners usually request funds in advance, run the activity, then claim reimbursement with proof of performance.
What is the difference between MDF and co-op funds?
MDF is typically allocated up front for planned activities that build the market, while co-op funds are usually earned as a percentage of a partner's past sales and used for joint advertising. Both need the same discipline: a request, an approval, a claim with proof and a record of the result.
What is MDF program management?
MDF program management is running the full fund lifecycle: setting budgets, taking partner requests, approving them, checking claims against proof of performance, paying, and measuring the return. MDF Fund Management keeps every step in one auditable workflow.
What counts as proof of performance?
Usually invoices, campaign assets, attendee lists and lead exports that show the approved activity happened as planned. Claims are checked against the original approved request.
How do you measure MDF ROI?
Link each funded activity to the pipeline and revenue it influenced. When MDF is connected to partner attribution, return can be reported by partner and by activity type instead of estimated.
Make your next MDF review a five-minute conversation.
Bring last quarter's fund spreadsheet to the demo and we'll model it live.