Although Bruce's first target is to ensure the last step towards survival is taken when the Tigers travel to Aston Villa on Saturday, there is an ambition to finish the campaign as high as possible.
Under the terms of a new and improved television deal that has come into play this season, each place in the Premier League could be worth approximately £1.3m in prize money.
The exact figures will not be known until the end of the season, but are expected to be significantly higher than the £750,000 each place was worth in 2012-13.
City could feasibly finish as high as 10th with three games still to play, although climbing above Swansea into 12th would appear the more attainable target. The difference between that and ending down the table in 16th, for example, would be somewhere in the region of £5.2m.
With a run to next month's FA Cup final set to bring in a further £6m, Bruce hopes City's ground-breaking achievements can have a positive impact on his budget for the coming summer.
"The higher up we go, the bigger budget I get and the better players we can bring in. I hope that's how the owner sees it, anyway," said Bruce.
"If we finish where we are or a place higher, it pays for a (Nikica) Jelavic or a (Shane) Long. We're in 13th, and we budgeted to finish 20th.
"It is about a million quid a place so all of those things are huge to a club like ours.
"Of course, it's vitally important. We won't be stopping. If we can stay where we are, then the budgets could mean another player next year. That is what we have to do."
The potential for an involvement in next season's Europa League would need Bruce to gather a bigger squad this summer but there is no prospect of a complete overhaul.
A tight-knit unit has been improved since promotion out of the Championship last season but their evolution has been careful not to sacrifice the values that have taken City to new heights.
"Sometimes I've been blessed with good groups as a manager," said Bruce, who knows a likely top-four finish for Arsenal would see them qualify for Europe as FA Cup finalists.
"I think of a great group I had at Birmingham for three or four wonderful years and this one reminds me of that.
"They're so close. Even the subs who are disappointed not to be playing are out there celebrating on the pitch. They desperately want to be Premier League players.
"This club has moved on so far in the last two years.
"If you consider a dark day we had at Hartlepool (in pre-season 2012) to the players we've got today, it just shows you how far.
"But we must keep on improving. Once the achievement has sunk in, it's gone. It only lasts a couple of days with me and we move on to the next one."
