Applying for grants – indeed, any kind of financial aid – can be a tedious process. First, you have to find grants you qualify for. Forms require you to answer the same questions over and over again. You are continually contacting your references for yet another letter or to fill out yet another format. You run out of stamps. You nearly miss deadlines. You’re not even sure what you’re applying for anymore!

However, there are several steps that you can take to be sure that the time you spend researching and applying for your women’s grants and other forms of financial aid is as efficient as possible.

The first is to research intelligently. Keep in mind that many grants out there are NOT given to individuals. They are given to organizations or programs which then reach out to help individuals in need. For example, a grant may state that it is to help those suffering from HIV/AIDS. Read a bit further, though, and you will find that the grant is to be given to community organizations that work directly with HIV/AIDS populations, helping them fund their operations, programs, or other needs. This is also the case with many government grants – they are for groups or organizations, not individuals. Therefore, your very first step while researching should be to scan carefully and ensure that the grant is in fact for individuals.

Second – are you sure you are researching every kind of grant you may qualify for? There are grants for nearly every field of study out there – but there is less competition for certain areas where women have been traditionally underrepresented. This means that if you are undecided in terms of what you want to study, or are willing to shift majors, you may find far more opportunities. Don’t forget that there are specialized grants for low-income women, minority women, non-traditional women – as well as hundreds of grants just for something as arbitrary as being left-handed or having a certain last name. Also keep in mind that your local community Kiwanis, Rotary Club or other organization may offer grants – perhaps not specifically to women, but which you should certainly look into.

To stay organized, make a list of all the grants and their application deadlines. Organize them in “batches” and work on them as such – a month ahead should suffice. Your reference sources will generally appreciate not having to work on a trickle of constant recommendation requests – it will be easier for them to dedicate an hour or two to filling out four or five forms once a month. You will also be far less burned-out if you just set aside a few days once or twice a month towards actually filling out forms, no matter how often you research and add to your “to-be-applied-for” list.

Remember that organizing your time adequately will let you focus on doing the best job you can on the applications themselves – which will only increase your chances of being awarded the grant.