# Defend my marketing budget to the CFO with a revenue case

A finance-ready case that connects marketing spend to pipeline and revenue, with honest caveats and asks.

- Topic: Marketing & Brand
- Framework: RTF
- Level: Standard
- Tags: Finance, Marketing, Sales, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/defend-my-marketing-budget-to-the-cfo-with-a-revenue-case

## Prompt

```text
Help me build a case to protect (or increase) my marketing budget with finance.

**Budget I'm asking for and change vs. last year:** [AMOUNT, % change]
**What finance is questioning:** [e.g. "brand spend", "event costs", "why CAC rose"]
**Results I can show:** [PASTE: spend, marketing-sourced and -influenced pipeline, revenue, CAC, payback, win rates, by channel if possible]
**Company targets:** [revenue, growth, efficiency goals]
**What happens if cut:** [my honest estimate]

Build:
1. A one-line headline: what the money buys in revenue terms.
2. The efficiency story: CAC, payback period, and LTV:CAC trends, using only my numbers. Separate sourced from influenced pipeline and say which is which.
3. Spend split into: proven (keep), scaling (fund with targets), and experimental (cap and measure).
4. Scenarios: flat, cut 20%, and requested budget, with the expected pipeline impact and the lag before it shows.
5. Pre-empt the 5 toughest CFO questions with direct answers, including where the data is weak.
6. Commitments I'll make: metrics, reporting cadence, and triggers to pull back spend.

Format: a one-page memo plus a table of the scenarios. Use finance vocabulary, no marketing jargon. Mark any figure I need to verify with [CONFIRM]; never invent numbers.
```

## What to fill in

- AMOUNT, % change
- e.g. "brand spend", "event costs", "why CAC rose"
- revenue, growth, efficiency goals
- my honest estimate
- CONFIRM

Free to copy and use. From ThinkWithPrompt (https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/), a library of 2,663 curated AI prompts.