How to ask your employer to fund your education can be a difficult subject to approach. However, there are benefits to both you and the business if they invest in employee education. 

Knowing what to say and how to ask can be the biggest challenge. Using a CIM course as an example, we’re going to cover how to ask your employer to fund your education and share tips to get the best chance of success. 

 

Step 1: Understand the Business Benefits 

Before you approach your employer, it's important that you understand and communicate how a CIM qualification (or other education) can be beneficial to the business. Here are a few examples of this: 

1. Enhanced Marketing Strategy 

Your CIM qualification will equip you with the latest marketing trends, tools and techniques. With this knowledge, you will be able to make more strategic decisions, leading to better results. 

2. Competitive Advantage 

In today's ever-evolving market, standing out from the crowd is vital. By gaining knowledge of modern-day marketing, you can help your employers by keeping the business ahead of their competitors. 

3. Higher Productivity & Efficiency 

The skills a marketer can gain from a CIM qualification will mean they can work faster while producing high-quality content. This will result in reaching business goals more efficiently.  

 

Step 2: Build your Case 

To persuade your employer to fund your education you need to present a compelling business case. Here’s a step-by-step guide: 

1. Highlight the Return on Investment (ROI) 

 By upskilling with a CIM qualification, you will gain the knowledge to reduce campaign costs, increase lead generation and drive more conversions. 

2. Connect to the Company’s Strategic Goals 

Whether your company is focusing on expanding into new markets or refining its customer segmentation, show how the CIM qualification will enable you to address these priorities more effectively. 

3. Offer to Share Knowledge 

As you continue to study, you could offer to spread your new knowledge, which multiplies the benefits for the marketing team and reduces the need for external training costs.

 

Step 3: Be Flexible with Funding Options 

 Employers are often more open to funding if they see that you’ve thought through the financials. Consider these options: 

1. Partial Funding 

If you don’t think your company will be able to pay the full qualification cost, suggest a shared cost model. You could offer to pay a part of the cost, and your employer pays the remaining amount. 

2. Phased Learning 

The CIM offers flexible learning options where you can stagger the modules over time. This means you can still learn valuable knowledge without a large immediate cost to your employer. 

3. Training Budgets 

Ask if your CIM qualification could be funded through pre-existing resources, like any unused budgets that were allocated for staff development. 

 

Final Thoughts 

The aim is to present a CIM qualification as an investment, not a cost. 

These tips should help you feel confident asking your employer to fund your education but remember, the key point is to always highlight it’s an investment in you and the company. When you focus on the direct and measurable benefits to the business, your employer is more likely to see the value of funding your education.