What Will I Find Next?
Nigerian Prince
"Trust, but verify" is a phrase that started as a Russian proverb, was popularized by a US president, and has propagated throughout the business world. Its wisdom is also very useful in the world of impact investing, charitable giving, aid organizations – in other words, in the world of "doing good". Why is this?
As a donor, as an impact investor, as a consumer, as a person or organization directing funds for another party, we are directing time, effort, or money for the purpose of genuinely causing some good thing to happen. In the rest of our experience, cause and effect are generally reliable. If we buy a house, we pay money and we get the keys. We also get things like solid purchase contracts and title insurance to ensure that the house is properly ours. If we pay for a service, there's typically a guarantee of outcomes.
However, when it comes to investing in good outcomes in the "doing good" world, this can be more challenging. In January of 2025, I was contacted by a man from Uganda who claimed to be the founder of an orphanage. Given today's technological capabilities, that contact could have been from an AI bot in Eastern Europe.
I started communicating with him anyway. His manner of writing – we communicated through chat – lined up reasonably with a Ugandan national instructed in English and not with AI, but there was still a chance he was playing a "Nigerian prince" scam on me.
Months of communication with this man, including phone calls, worked to form a genuine picture of a loving person, once an orphan himself, who started caring for orphaned children and founded an orphanage to solve a need. I donated small amounts to his cause. I was still a tad skeptical.
In June that same year, I had an opportunity to travel to East Africa and decided to take a risk by extending my trip to include Uganda to visit Victor and his orphanage.
The day Victor and his two friends picked me up from my Kampala hotel to drive the 3 ½ hours to the orphanage, I still had my concerns. "American Kidnapped for Ransom in Uganda", I imagined the headline to say. It's not the norm, but it happens. Having seen men with assault rifles on the streets of Kampala the day before didn't calm my concerns.
Yet today, I run a non-profit organization tasked with helping orphanages like Victor's become self-supporting. What made the difference?
A warm smile and brotherly hug from Victor when we met in person at the car.
The glint of a tear in Victor's eye as he shared his origin story during the drive.
Being "mobbed" and hugged by 100 children when we finally reached the orphanage.
Walking the site and understanding that, for the cost of a reasonably-priced new car, every project needed to make the orphanage self-sufficient could be funded.
Impact work happens all around the globe in varying conditions. People's levels of integrity vary. As does competence, ability to measure and mitigate risk, and many other factors that affect whether that impact work will get done and accomplish what was intended. And as my illustration establishes, we can't always find metrics to give us the information we need.
Verification is needed in "doing good", and it needs to be done by humans. On the ground. In person.
Truffle Pigs
For centuries, truffle hunters in European forests have used trained "truffle pigs" to scour areas known to be good sources for this pricey delicacy. More recently replaced by dogs for the same purpose, these pigs used their keen senses to identify truffles underground – effectively separating the prize from all the other dirt, roots, and detritus found on the forest floor.
In the same way, my adventure in Uganda was my way of being like a truffle pig, but for my own purposes. (These pigs love to eat the truffles, by the way…) I needed to know that I could trust the orphanage to be a good steward of anything – time or treasure – that I gave. I went to Africa, where much of the continent is known to be a ripe source of impact opportunities, and made sure Victor's orphanage was indeed a "truffle" before engaging further.
In the end, I directed my charitable giving, as well as time and effort, specifically to Victor's orphanage. The truffle pig scouting activity helped me ensure that Victor's organization was appropriate for my particular mission, and understand their real, on-the-ground needs.
The orphanage also benefited from having me, the truffle pig scout, visit them. It helped them, as well as me, avoid the possibility of a poor fit. It raised their visibility. And as Victor said to me while I was walking his orphanage's 2-acre grounds, my visit gave them – Victor, his staff, and especially the 100+ children – hope.
This scouting trip was not an isolated event. I will be returning to East Africa, each time with the purpose of checking in on Victor's orphanage and other groups I get involved with and identifying new opportunities and recipients I can work with. I also plan to share findings with other people and organizations who would benefit from a truffle pig scout's activity and on-the-ground data.
By using myself as a truffle pig, I went from being a possible kidnapping headline or a mark to a "Nigerian Prince" to finding a genuinely worthy orphanage that I could help.
What will I find next?