How to Win Scholarships - 1.3 Getting Organized
Many applications will ask you for these documents, or donors will demand these documents from you in a short amount of time if you’re selected to win. Imagine finding an opportunity that’s perfect for you just before the deadline, but you weren’t able to provide these documents? Download the document guide to stay organized. The biggest reasons people fail to win scholarships or bursaries is because they are disorganized, aren’t applying for enough, or are submitting applications for opportunities they have a low chance of winning.
Follow these steps to avoid these tragic mistakes. Make a list of 10 to 20 opportunities you’re most likely to win. What are you most likely to win? Opportunities that are most relevant to you or aren’t that competitive. Here’s an example of what I mean by “relevant to you”. Sarah is a student that lives in Toronto who loves painting. Which opportunity should she apply for? The Mack Award is worth ten-thousand-dollars, but anyone in the world is eligible to apply.
The Bricks Award is worth two-thousand-dollars, but it is only for applicants who live in Toronto, and love painting. Which one should Sarah apply to? The Bricks Award. Because fewer people are eligible to apply making it less far less competitive. The more unique and restrictive an application’s requirements are the more likely it is to go unnoticed, and unclaimed. So, how do you find opportunities that only a few people are eligible for? If you’re a FundQi user don’t worry about finding these rare opportunities. Just pick the first 20 results on your dashboard. The software automatically rank orders the scholarships, bursaries, internships, and start-up grants you’re most likely to win. Our team spends countless hours searching and organizing thousands of opportunities into our database so you don’t have to. If you aren’t with FundQi, download the “Search Guide”.
Following the steps in the guide will take a lot of hours, and you won’t find very unique opportunities, but you’ll still have a big edge over the average student. If an opportunity isn’t very unique there’s another way to tell how competitive it is. Simply contact the donors, and ask them how many applicants they usually get. We’ve attached a guide that will tell you exactly how to get in touch with the donors, and what to say to them.
Step two, make a plan. Now that you know what opportunities to apply for it’s time to make an action plan. Basically, you’re going to plan your actions ahead of time and put them into a schedule. Download the schedule guide to stay organized. In summary, make a list of opportunities you’re likely to win and make a plan to apply for them by using your schedule.
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