diff --git a/lib/contracts/contributor.js b/lib/contracts/contributor.js
index 5edbfa9..05e3abc 100644
--- a/lib/contracts/contributor.js
+++ b/lib/contracts/contributor.js
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ class Contributor extends Record {
 
     const jsonStr = contributor.serialize();
 
+    // console.log('Adding IPFS doc for', contributorAttr.account);
     return this.ipfs
       .add(jsonStr)
       .then((ipfsHashAttr) => {
@@ -62,7 +63,11 @@ class Contributor extends Record {
           ipfsHashAttr.hashSize,
         ];
 
+        // console.log('Adding onchain record for', contributorAttr.account);
         return this.contract.addContributor(...contributor, callOptions);
+      }).catch(err => {
+        console.log('Failed to add IPFS document:', err.message);
+        throw(err);
       });
   }
 
diff --git a/lib/utils/ipfs.js b/lib/utils/ipfs.js
index 3b4ee17..7382bda 100644
--- a/lib/utils/ipfs.js
+++ b/lib/utils/ipfs.js
@@ -9,6 +9,13 @@ class IPFS {
     }
     this._config = config;
     this._ipfsAPI = ipfsClient.create(config);
+
+    this._ipfsAPI.id().then(res => {
+      console.debug('IPFS ID:', res.id);
+    }).catch(e => {
+      console.debug('IPFS config:', config);
+      console.warn('Failed to initialize IPFS:', e.message);
+    });
   }
 
   async catAndMerge (contractData, deserialize) {