Public charity was dealt a direct blow in the southern province of Guangdong when a public foundation under the Guangdong Charity Federation raised only 100 yuan ($15.90) in a month-long campaign to seek charitable donations.

The public foundation launched a campaign on Nov 5 calling for donations for children in the province's poor western mountainous areas.

But the foundation collected only 100 yuan, plus 200 books, when the campaigned ended on Dec 15. The results were very surprising to campaign organizers.

A staff member from the foundation’s project department said it is an individual case.

"The case cannot mean that locals have lost their confidence in the foundation," a staff member who gave only her surname He told China Daily on Monday.

She refused to reveal more details.

Xu Minqian, secretary-general of the foundation, also refused to comment further.

"The case is sensitive and locals need more time to understand the foundation's operations," he told local media.

Locals and netizens said a lack of transparency in the foundation's operations is one of the major reasons that the public charity failed to raise enough donations.

Many negative events surrounding public charitable organizations in recent years have also affected their image, netizens said.