Decisions · Layer 1
How should you allocate market development funds in loyalty
Allocate market development funds to verified partner behaviour with an agreed claim record and an explicit owner for unused or disputed funds.
Allocate market development funds to verified partner behaviour with an agreed claim record and an explicit owner for unused or disputed funds.
## The decision boundary Market development funds are a governed pool attached to partner activity. The decision requires an eligible action, evidence of completion, a funding rate, and settlement.
## The options
### Pre-approved activity Choose this when the partner action is easy to define and verify. The cost is additional operating complexity.
### Performance pool Choose this when funds should follow measured outcomes. The cost is more measurement and exception handling.
### Discretionary support Choose this when the opportunity is rare and strategic. The cost is a stronger funding and review obligation.
## What it costs you The currency is liability, margin, engineering time, operating capacity, or member trust. In a hypothetical illustration, 2 points per dollar on 400 dollars of spend creates 800 points. At a hypothetical 1 cent value, that is 8 dollars of liability. Ten comparable cases therefore represent 80 dollars of stated value.
## How to decide 1. Name the behaviour or obligation the rule must control. 2. Identify the independent evidence that proves the event. 3. Price the member, operating, and liability cost of each option. 4. Choose the least complex control that protects the least reversible outcome. 5. Set the evidence that would cause a later review.
## What breaks The failure mode is a rule that measures its own success. Keep source evidence, eligibility, issuance, adjustment, and fulfilment separately observable. Revisit the recommendation when the balance has no meaningful value or the event cannot be independently verified.