New Incentives

What New Incentives does

New Incentives is a US nonprofit, founded in 2011, that works to raise childhood vaccination rates in northern Nigeria. The organization cites an estimate that about 40% of deaths of children under five in Nigeria are from vaccine-preventable diseases. Its program is a conditional cash transfer: caregivers receive a small cash payment each time they bring an infant to a clinic for a scheduled routine vaccination.

The payments are modest. As of late 2023, GiveWell reported about 1,000 naira (roughly $0.86) per visit across six visits, and New Incentives pays only after it verifies the vaccination. As of January 2024 the program ran in nine northern Nigerian states, and it enrolled nearly 1.4 million infants in the first eleven months of 2023. New Incentives reports issuing more than 34 million verified cash transfers to date.

GiveWell names New Incentives one of its four Top Charities. It estimates about $18 per child enrolled and $1,500–$6,000 per death averted, depending on the state. Before focusing on infant vaccination, the organization ran cash-transfer programs for pregnant women linked to HIV testing and hospital births.

Key facts

• 34,387,115 cash transfers issued after verifying vaccinations (New Incentives site counter, Sept 2026)
• Caregivers received about 1,000 naira (~$0.86) per clinic visit across six vaccination visits as of Dec 2023 (GiveWell)
• GiveWell estimates about $18 per child enrolled and $1,500–$6,000 to avert a death, depending on the state
• Enrolled 1,388,431 infants between January and November 2023 (GiveWell)

Before you give

• Donate page offers card (via Every.org), PayPal, donor-advised funds, stock, crypto, check and wire transfer.
• Donors can also give through GiveWell and designate New Incentives; GiveWell says it grants 100% of designated gifts, after payment fees.