Appealing to donors’ sense of status may provide a stimulus to fundraising, according to new research conducted in Pittsburgh by the Tepper School of Business at the US’s Carnegie Mellon University. The study, The Joys of Giving and Receiving, analysed data for ten of Pittsburgh’s largest cultural and environmental organizations, and found that exclusive or high-profile benefits, such as invitations to dinner parties and other special events where they can rub shoulders with other high-status individuals, are by far the strongest incentives for donors to support charities, above and beyond the pleasure of giving. Among other things, the study found that the numbers of donors who support several charities would decline significantly if high-value private benefits were eliminated.