The Dunedin City Council has donated more than $100,000 to Surf Lifesaving New Zealand from a community grants pool of half a million dollars - one fifth of the total available.
Chair of the Grants Subcommittee Jinty MacTavish acknowledged it was much more than the $20,000 given to the Dunedin Night Shelter Trust, or the $6,000 to Dunedin's Combined Community Patrols.
Ms MacTavish said this was the first time the grants had been allocated under new criteria.
"It's a managed approach to a transition to a more fair and equitable system."
She said these used to be known as 'Civic Grants' but the system had changed following a recent grants review process.