British universities have woken up to the potential for fundraising from alumni and wealthy individuals in recent years, but they are light years behind their American counterparts. The top 20 US universities raised more than £3 billion between them last year.

In contrast, Cambridge and Oxford raise nearly £200million a year between them, but only 13 other universities had raised £5 million or more when the Sutton Trust surveyed them in 2006.

The contrast with US universities has been blamed on a tighter tax regime, but fundraisers say this is a myth: government support through Gift Aid is as generous as any American incentive.

US successes are built on years of experience and investment, as well as a culture in which universities are high on the list of deserving causes. Students are approached to begin giving to their alma mater even before they have graduated. When Yale introduced an anniversary fundraising campaign, three quarters of graduates contributed. More than 60 per cent of Princeton's graduates make donations each year, partly because many of them benefited from previous gifts in a way that does not apply at British universities.

However, even US universities are braced for a slump in donations as the threat of recession grows. The amounts raised from alumni have fallen in the past two years.

British universities will be stepping up their efforts at an equally difficult stage in the economic cycle, but recent investment in fundraising operations are beginning to bear fruit. Cambridge is aiming to raise £1 billion by 2012 and Oxford will set a higher target when it announces a new campaign this year. The challenge set by the Government will be for universities without such lofty aspirations to learn from the American fundraising experience.

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