Market Development Funds (MDF)

Market Development Funds let you set aside a marketing budget, allocate slices of it to individual partners, and pay them back for the marketing they actually run. Partners submit claims from their portal; you approve, adjust or reject them, and pay the approved ones out.

Where to find it: Click MDF in the main navigation.

Who can use this: Admins and Partnerships team members. Requires the MDF module, which Journeybee support enables for you.

How MDF works

Money moves in three steps:

1. You create a program with a total budget.

2. You allocate part of that budget to specific partners.

3. Partners claim against their allocation for activities they have run, and you pay the approved claims.

The MDF page has two tabs, Programs and Claims, matching the first two steps and the third.

Create a program

1. Click Create Program.

2. Fill in:

   • Name and Description: what the program is for.

   • Total Budget: the full amount available.

   • Funding wallet: which payment provider wallet the money comes from. Only offered if a provider is connected.

   • Status: Active, Paused or Completed.

   • Start Date and End Date.

3. Click Save.

If the budget you enter is larger than the selected wallet's balance, Journeybee warns you. It does not block you, on the assumption you will fund the wallet before claims start landing, but the program list keeps flagging it as underfunded until you do.

Budget tracking

Each program shows its money in four figures:

• Total Budget: what you set.

• Allocated: how much is committed to partners.

• Available: what is left to allocate.

• Pending: how much is sitting in claims awaiting your decision.

Pending is the one people miss. Available does not account for claims you have not yet approved, so a program that looks like it has headroom may already be spoken for.

Partner allocations

Open a program and use Add Allocation to give a partner a share of the budget. Choose the partner and enter an amount.

You cannot allocate more than the program's available budget: Journeybee tells you the maximum. Allocations can be edited or deleted afterwards.

Payment provider status

Each allocation shows the partner's Payment Provider Status, telling you whether that partner is registered with your payment provider yet.

An unregistered partner can still be allocated funds and can still submit claims, but the payout will not go through until they are registered. Check this early rather than at the point of paying, when the partner is waiting.

Claims

Partners submit claims from the MDF room in their portal. Each claim carries:

• Title: a short name.

• Activity Type: Event, Campaign, Content, Advertising or Other.

• Amount Requested.

• Description: what they actually did.

• Activity Date: when it happened.

A partner cannot request more than their remaining allocation. The portal tells them the available figure as they type.

The claim lifecycle

Claims move through a fixed set of states, and the moves are one-way:

• Pending: submitted, awaiting your review. Can become Approved or Rejected.

• Approved: cleared for payment. Can become Processing or Paid.

• Processing: a payout is in flight. Can become Paid.

• Paid: final.

• Rejected: final.

• Archived: final.

The important consequence: a rejected claim cannot be un-rejected. If a partner submits something incomplete, ask them to correct it before you reject, or they will have to submit again from scratch.

Approving and rejecting

Approve clears the claim, and lets you adjust the Amount Approved if you are paying less than was asked for. Partial approval is the normal way to handle a claim that mixes eligible and ineligible spend.

Reject declines the claim and requires a rejection reason, which the partner sees. Write it properly: it is the only explanation they get.

Each claim records who submitted it and who reviewed it.

Paying a claim

On an approved claim, admins can use Pay via Provider. Journeybee transfers the approved amount from the program's funding wallet to the partner, and the claim moves to Processing and then Paid.

Three things must line up first: the program has a funding wallet, the wallet holds enough money, and the partner is registered with the provider.

See XTRM Payment Provider for connecting a provider and funding wallets.

What partners see

Partners with the MDF room in their portal see their own allocation, how much of it is left, their claim history and its statuses, and a form to submit a new claim.

They only ever see their own allocation. Your total budget and other partners' allocations are not visible to them.

Add the room from Portals. See Portal Room Types.

Archiving a program

Archiving a program removes it from your active list but leaves partner allocations and claims intact, so historical claims and payment records stay auditable.

Troubleshooting

MDF is not in my navigation

The MDF module is not enabled. Contact Journeybee support. You also need the Admin or Partnerships role.

I cannot select a funding wallet

No payment provider is connected, or it has no wallets. You can still run a program and approve claims; you just cannot pay through the platform.

The program says the wallet is underfunded

The wallet balance is below the program's outstanding budget. Top the wallet up, or reduce the budget.

Pay via Provider fails

Check the wallet balance covers the approved amount, and check the partner's Payment Provider Status on their allocation. An unregistered partner cannot receive a payout.

A partner says they cannot claim the full amount

Claims are capped at the partner's remaining allocation, not the program budget. Increase their allocation if the program has available budget.

I rejected a claim by mistake

Rejected is final. Ask the partner to submit a new claim for the same activity.

Partners cannot see MDF in their portal

The MDF room has to exist for their partner type, be set to Live, and their partnership has to match its access settings.

Good to know

• Allocate less than the full budget at the start. Holding some back gives you room to reward the partners who actually use their funds.

• Watch Pending, not just Available. Approving everything outstanding can take a program over budget.

• Check payment provider registration when you create an allocation, not when you pay the claim.

• Approve for a reduced amount rather than rejecting outright when part of the spend is eligible. Rejection is a dead end for that claim.

Related articles

• XTRM Payment Provider: connecting a provider and funding wallets.

• Portal Room Types: adding the MDF room to your portal.

• Marketing Campaigns: the campaigns partners often claim against.

• Payments: paying partner commissions.