The move meant the trust, which was established the day after this year's games finished, would not have to rely on the Dunedin City Council to meet any shortfall, games manager Aaron Joy said.
"We were declined over $300,000 worth of funds because we were not a charitable trust . . . every application we made had to go under a Dunedin City Council letterhead, and people thought it was a great event but they [the council] should support it better.
"At the end of the day, the more funds we can get from being a charitable trust the less burden we place on ratepayers," he said.
The event, held in the city every two years, was one of the biggest on the Dunedin calendar, and had the potential to grow, Mr Joy said.
The 2008 games broke even, thanks to the council contributing an unbudgeted shortfall of $151,248 for the 2006-08 financial years.
A study on the 2008 games estimated the economic impact to be $5.1 million, 1.7% higher than in 2006.
Committee chairman Cr John Bezett said the Dunedin games had the potential to grow significantly if more money was put into the event.
Mr Joy said increasing funding and making it available before rather than after the event would also help the event grow.
Funding for the 2010 games is under review by council.
