Partnership Application FAQs
Can individuals apply for Buckle Up for Life partnerships or grants?
No. Buckle Up for Life only partners with organizations, operating under their own unique EIN/TIN, capable of implementing robust child passenger safety programs. Individual people cannot apply for partnerships on their own behalf, but individual team members affiliated with partner organizations can and should create their own individual user accounts to access their organizational account.
Can multi-institutional safety coalitions apply for Buckle Up for Life grants?
Organizations may only apply for Buckle Up for Life grants on their own behalf, not on behalf of multi-institutional safety coalitions that do not operate under their own unique EIN/TIN. Organizations who manage local safety coalition chapters (E.g., Safe Kids, Injury Free, Etc.) should apply on their own organization’s behalf. It is imperative for us to partner directly with individual institutions whose leadership can take full responsibility for the administration of awarded resources and the supervision of staff implementing the program.
Grants awarded by Buckle Up for Life should not be utilized to subsidize coalitions that receive direct or indirect funds from motor vehicle manufacturers other than Toyota.
I am a former Buckle Up for Life partner. Can I re-apply?
Yes, any organization—including current and former Buckle Up for Life partners—may apply for any new partnership if they meet its eligibility requirements.
Organizations who have been Community Grant partners two years in a row will need to take a year off before applying for the Community Grant again–however they may still apply for Gift of Safety in the interim. There is no limit to how many consecutive years an organization can be a Gift of Safety partner.
For all applicants, past performance (when applicable) will be considered during the application review process.
Can I apply for more than one partnership at a time?
Eligible and interested organizations may apply for both the Community Grant partnership and Gift of Safety partnership at the same time, using the same Common Partnership Application, when it is open. Each organization will be evaluated for each opportunity for which it applies.
Can I be awarded more than one partnership at a time?
An organization may not be concurrently awarded a Community Grant partnership and a Gift of Safety partnership during the same program year.
Can I email, fax or mail my application?
No. All applications must be submitted through the Buckle Up for Life website.
Can I submit partnership applications or funding requests directly to Toyota?
No. Toyota is the prime funder only for Cincinnati Children’s, who directly and solely administers the Buckle Up for Life program. For legal and administrative purposes, Buckle Up for Life partners are considered sub-award grantees of Cincinnati Children’s. All applications should be submitted directly to the Buckle Up for Life team at Cincinnati Children’s, as directed on the Buckle Up for Life website.
Toyota will not accept, review, nor forward any inquires or applications for the Buckle Up for Life program. Applications submitted directly to Toyota will be disqualified.
What are the chances of grants and/or partnerships being awarded?
Buckle Up for Life’s partnerships are highly competitive. Many qualified applications will be denied. We encourage applicants to review the timelines and detailed descriptions provided for each partnership to determine which would best meet their needs.
Can my grant or partnership application be disqualified?
Yes. Below are a few reasons for disqualification, please note that this list not exhaustive.
- Applications that are incomplete, or do not follow all instructions
- Applications submitted after the deadline (when applicable)
- Applications that might pose a conflict of interest to our prime funder
- Applications submitted in a language other than English
Does everyone from my team really need their own Buckle Up for Life account?
Yes! Details about the size and strength of your team are not captured on the Common Partnership Application itself. Instead, upon review by BUFL, credit for team size and strength is assessed based on an aggregate review of details provided by all individual users affiliated with your organization, across their own accounts.
So, prior to final submission of your application, please ensure that all team members at your organization who intend to work on your Buckle Up for Life program (if awarded) are fully registered for their own affiliated individual user account. Each affiliated team member should enter complete details in their profile (E.g., passenger safety certifications, relevant trainings, language fluency, Etc.).
How do I add team members to our Partner Registration?
Each team member affiliated with your organization must request their own individual account.
Refer to the Partner Registration Quick Start Guide, and follow all of the steps, starting with the EIN lookup, as described, for your organization.
After the new user requests their account, a current approved user from your organization will need to approve their access, as described.
Once approved, the new user will have the same full access as all other approved users affiliated with their organization.
Where do I find the actual Common Partnership Application?
The various pages we have provided on our website provide all the details, supporting tools, and assistance you need to apply.
However, to take actual action (to either submit your Partner Registration, or your Common Partnership Application), you will always need to start at the Partner Portal. From there, either login (and/or use the “Lost Your Password” option, if/as needed) if you are already registered; or select the “New Partner Registration” option if you are not already registered.
Once registered and logged in, select the “View Applications” option under your name/profile, to either start a new Common Partnership Application, or to continue working on a saved version. This is also where you can review (read-only) applications that you have already submitted.
For more detail, the following resources are available:
Can I save my work, and continue my Common Partnership Application at a later date?
Yes. Select the “Save” button at the bottom of any page within the application.
When you are ready to continue, login to the Partner Portal and select the “View Applications” option under your name/profile to retrieve your saved application.
Can I collaborate with my team members on the same shared application for my organization?
Yes. All approved users affiliated with your organization may access, draft, update, save and/or submit your shared application.
Note: Only one user may access the organization’s shared application at a single time. Be sure to communicate with your team members to manage who is logged in, so that progress is not lost.
Why does the application say I’m not eligible to apply; or why did I not get to apply for a certain opportunity?
The Common Partnership Application uses smart branching logic and will route you to relevant sections and fields depending on your interests and eligibility, as determined by the responses you provide. If you are notified, while completing the application, that you are not eligible for a certain opportunity, please carefully review the responses you provided up to that point; and also review the partnership eligibility for each opportunity, on our Become a Partner page, to make sure your organization is aligned to apply for it.
The application asks me if I want to “launch,” “sustain,” or “grow” my child passenger safety program. What’s the difference?
- Launch means your organization currently does not offer a formal child passenger safety program of any kind. You may already have a certified CPST on staff, but you are not regularly providing passenger safety services for your community; or, someone from your organization may have just been certified, or is in the process of becoming certified–with a plan to start offering passenger safety services for your community soon.
- Sustain means your organization already offers a formal child passenger program for your community, and support from Buckle Up for Life will help you continue providing the same level of service you are already providing. You may already be a Buckle Up for Life partner, and you want to maintain that same level of support (with no plan to grow further), or you may be seeking new Buckle Up for Life support to supplement or replace other external funding sources that have recently been lost.
- Grow means your organization already offers a formal child passenger safety program for your community, and you intend to do more with new support from Buckle Up for Life. You may be seeking to provide more services to the community (E.g., more free car seats, more car seat checks, Etc.), and/or more frequently (E.g., more classes, more events, Etc.), or in more locations (in person or virtually). You may also be seeking to reach new communities, or to serve newly targeted populations (E.g., families speaking another language, families with children who have adaptive car seat needs, Etc.).
I think I made a mistake on an application that I’ve already submitted. Can I retract or edit it?
Once an application has been submitted, it cannot be edited or retracted.
If, however, the application period is still open, you may submit an entirely new application prior to the deadline. In this case, Buckle Up for Life will only review and assess the most recent version submitted.
At the application deadline, any outstanding applications that are saved but incomplete will be frozen and considered un-submitted; these will not be reviewed by Buckle Up for Life.
Can I review my application after I have submitted it?
Yes. Login to the Partner Portal, and select the “View Applications” option under your name/profile to review (read-only) any applications that you have already submitted.
Who reviews my application and how is it evaluated against other submissions?
Because the Buckle Up for Life partnerships are highly competitive, every submission is closely reviewed by an internal committee of injury prevention experts and faculty physicians and leaders at Cincinnati Children’s. This internal committee uses a scorecard approach to assess each organization’s overall qualifications—taking into account (including, but not limited to) the following:
- Organization’s current child passenger safety program and team strengths
- Organization’s demonstrated need for Buckle Up for Life funding or resources
- Organization’s plan to meet the demonstrated need, using Buckle Up for Life funds or resources
- Organization’s capacity to act as good stewards of funds or resources provided
For current or former partners, past performance will be taken into consideration.
How will I be notified of a decision?
Upon review and selection, Buckle Up for Life will send all partnership notifications to the email address provided on each application. Notification dates are available on our Become a Partner page.
Will I receive feedback on my application if it is denied?
Unfortunately, due to the high volume of applications received, processed, and reviewed, Buckle Up for Life is unable to provide individualized feedback to applying organizations. Please keep in mind that Buckle Up for Life partnerships are highly competitive; even strong applications may not be funded.
For Community Grants, when will funds be disbursed?
Community Grant funds are provided, in full, at the beginning of each grant year–after successful execution of sub-award contracts.
Will Buckle Up for Life ship car seats to Community Grant partners?
No. Community Grant partners must purchase their own car seats with their Buckle Up for Life grant funds. Buckle Up for Life only ships car seats to Gift of Safety partners.
