The Marketing Development Fund (MDF) is a strategic resource provided by Shopware to support and enhance the marketing initiatives of our valued partners. The MDF aims to foster growth, drive brand awareness, and boost sales performance through collaborative partner marketing activities.
To qualify for the MDF, partners must accumulate a certain value point threshold per year as per contract requirements based on their partnership tier. The thresholds are as follows:
Platinum Partners: 250 value points
Silver Partners: 50 value points
Value points are accrued through various activities and achievements as seen below:
Activities for Value Points | Amount of Points |
|---|---|
Shopware Beyond plan initial sale to a new Shopware customer | 25 |
Shopware Evolve plan initial sale to a new Shopware customer | 20 |
Shopware Rise plan initial sale to a new Shopware customer | 15 |
Upsell of a Shopware customer with Shopware Evolve plan to a Shopware Beyond plan | 20 |
Upsell of a Shopware customer with Shopware Rise plan to a Shopware Evolve plan | 15 |
Contract extension or contract extension in the form of a higher GMV allowance of a customer with Shopware Beyond plan | 20 |
Contract extension or contract extension in the form of a higher GMV allowance of a customer with Shopware Evolve plan | 15 |
Contract extension or contract extension in the form of a higher GMV allowance of a customer with Shopware Rise plan | 10 |
A deal registered via the Shopware Account using ChAMP qualification was accepted by the Shopware sales team | 5 |
“Value points” are points partners can collect for certain activities with Shopware. Reaching the points target stated in the requirements allows partners to get access to the marketing fund for the following calendar year. Reaching the “value points” target also prevents partners from a downgrade if they do not achieve their “average annual contract volume with Shopware plans”.
Achieve Annual Value Point Threshold: Ensure you have met the required value point threshold for your partnership tier.
Check your partner portal: See if an MDF fund is available. If available, continue with the following steps.
Plan your yearly activities with your Partner Manager & Partner Marketing Manager.
Requesting Approval for MDF usage:
Discuss your marketing initiative proposal with your designated Shopware Partner Manager and calculate ROI.
Once agreed upon, submit your request through your partner portal. (Account → Partner → Marketing Fund → Request Fund) – Complete the form with as much information as possible.
Shopware will review the request and approve/reject/request more information about the activity.
Execute the Marketing Activities: Upon approval, proceed with executing the marketing activities as outlined in your proposal.
Reimbursement Request: After completing the activities, submit a reimbursement request by sending an invoice with the word MDF and the amount agreed for the proposed activity to finance@shopware.com.
Result Reporting: Upon activity completion, send an email to partner.marketing@shopware.com or your designated Shopware representative with a results report of the activity. It must include:
How many leads were collected? / How many people attended the events?
How many leads/people will be submitted/have been submitted as a PQL to Shopware?
How many PQLs are qualified?
Receive Funds: Once the reimbursement request is reviewed and approved, the MDF will be disbursed to your account.
Alignment with Shopware Objectives: All proposed marketing activities must align with Shopware’s branding guidelines, key messaging framework, tone of voice, and strategic goals.
Documentation: Maintain thorough documentation of all marketing activities, including invoices and performance metrics.
Co-branding: All activities must be co-branded by featuring the Shopware Partner Level logo (or Shopware logo), solution, or company name, and if applicable, Shopware contact information.
Timeliness: Ensure all activities and reimbursement requests are completed within the agreed timelines (usually within the same fiscal year as the approval of the MDF request).
Transparency: Provide clear and honest reporting on the effectiveness of the marketing activities.
Compliance: Adhere to all relevant legal and regulatory requirements, such as GDPR or CCPA or the Master Alliance Agreement. For example, when sharing leads, partners should ensure that GDPR claims were checked during the process of obtaining the lead’s contact information.
| Off-limit activities | Recommended activities | ROI Rule of thumb |
|---|---|---|
| Content writing fees | Partner-led events | Each 100 euros = 1 new contact |
| Google Ads | Digital Ads | Every 10,000 euros = minimum 3 deals registered |
| Organic Promotions | Swags/Print content | |
| Co-exhibition at trade shows | Promotional items | |
| Masterclasses/Podcasts | ||
| Paid PR/Influencer Placement | ||
| Miscellaneous (based on discussion) |
If you have any questions about whether your marketing activity qualifies for MDF usage, please contact your partner manager.
