Recipients of the first round of funding from the Graham and Olive West Charitable Trust will be announced later this month.
Trust chairwoman Janice Hughes said 42 applications were received "from all sectors of the community" and it would be a hard decision to make.
To be eligible for funding, projects had to demonstrate a "clear benefit to the population of the Upper Clutha area".
A meeting will be held today to consider the applications.
The trust has around $1 million to distribute over a 10-year timeframe, at roughly $100,000 in community grants per year.
"But that's not fixed in any particular way and there's quite a degree of flexibility within the trust."
Wanaka tourism identities Gra and Olive West established the trust and gave money to it when they died, in 1995 and 2010 respectively, to help Wanaka community organisations promote the district.
Trustees are Mrs Hughes, a lawyer, Queenstown Lakes district councillor and deputy mayor Lyal Cocks, Wanaka Chamber of Commerce representative and accountant Alistair King, Presbyterian Support Services Otago chief executive Gillian Bremner, and West family representative Russell Umbers.
