Donations to the Red Cross Society of China dropped 59.39 percent to 2.87 billion yuan ($451 million) in 2011, according to an annual report on public donations published Thursday by the China Charity Information Center.

Donations to the Red Cross accounted for 3.4 percent of 84.5 billion yuan in total donations made by the public last year.

The public's lack of willingness to donate to the Red Cross was caused by a huge scandal last year, according to Liu Youping, deputy director of the charity center.

In June 2011, a young woman named Guo Meimei claimed to be an associate employee of the Red Cross posted photos depicting her lavish lifestyle on the Internet, prompting speculation that she had embezzled money to fund her extravagances.

The Red Cross denied employing her, but the incident resulted in calls for the organization to be more transparent.

Global Times