It'll be the distinctive jingle of donation buckets, rather than Christmas bells, ringing loud and clear this weekend as Bay of Plenty surf lifesaving clubs make their one community push for vital funds.

Omanu Surf Life Saving Club nippers Bella Etherington, 9, and Willow McBride, 10, will be out shaking a bucket this weekend. Photo by Tracy Hardy.

The city will be awash with the distinctive yellow and red of surf lifesavers this weekend as they seek donations towards the not-for-profit organisation.

Launched this month, the Surf Life Saving New Zealand annual summer appeal runs to February 28, 2015, allowing the nation's 74 clubs to undertake fundraisers and activities across the busy season.

For the Mount Maunganui, Omanu and Papamoa clubs today is the big focus with a lifeguard presence on city streets.

Not only will the clubs be door-knocking but they'll be at Tauranga's Red Square and Bayfair – each club taking a day at the shopping centre up until today.

Omanu Surf Life Saving Club volunteer patrol captain Mike Swan says with funding getting harder to find every year this a key time to both strengthen the organisation's profile and raise vital funds.

Donations go directly to the clubs, allowing them to train more lifeguards, increase patrols and buy essential equipment to help save lives and prevent injuries.

'It's an easy charity to collect for if you like because we are non-profit and visible in the community,” says Mike. 'People see a direct result of what they're donating to.”

Mount Maunganui Lifeguard general manager Glenn Bradley hopes the community will continue its strong support. 'It's really important for us to get funds to enable us to perform our core duties of lifeguarding out there on the beach.

'Summer is starting to kick in. The beach is really busy so it's important for us to get that community support so we can provide that service to beachgoers.”