A funeral services company in Georgia has developed a series of customised coffins for over 40 universities.

In return, the university receives 7.5% of the proceeds, which will represent more than £100 per coffin.

Harvard raised $2.3bn in a five year fundraising campaign

The service is being targeted at alumni who might want to continue financially supporting the universities.

The company, Collegiate Memorials, says it is "striving to provide tasteful personalisation to a unique group that wishes to declare their life interest".

And it "takes great pride in being an innovator in the funeral service industry".

In the illustrations for the coffins, the college insignia appears on the open lid of the casket.

Urns

For example, for the University of Missouri, there is a large capital M stitched into the underside of the coffin lid.

There are also cremation urns available with university insignia.

Universities in the United States are world leaders in raising funds from former students.

And cash-strapped universities in the United Kingdom have been encouraged to find ways to raise more from their own alumni.

The Education Secretary Charles Clarke, addressing higher education funding earlier this month, praised the alumni system which helps fund many United States universities.

Prestigious universities in the United States have a track record of successful fundraising, with extensive networks of events involving former students.

Endowments

A five-year fundraising drive by Harvard, ending in 1999, brought in $2.3bn from former students.

And a campaign to funds for campus improvements at Yale raised $1.71bn, the large majority of which was given by individual donors.

Yale also appeals for substantial one-off payments into its endowments fund, which is in excess of £6bn.

The university says that since 1950, more than three quarters of the endowment value has come "from gifts and investment performance on those gifts".