There are two primary ways to allocate marketing development funds (MDF). In an annual MDF budget model, the executive management team authorizes the budget for MDF at the beginning of the fiscal year. In an incremental MDF model, programs and budget requirements are added and throughout the year based on business needs and requests from product management, senior management and finance. This sample process flow focuses on the sales and marketing development function. It outlines steps such as: Allocating marketing funds to business units Creating promotion plans Generating and approving marketing program payments Analyzing marketing program commitments This document should be used as a general guide to understand and review this business process. Organizations should customize this tool to ensure that it reflects their business operations and continuously monitor the process to ensure that the steps described are accurate.