Rōmy acquired by The FOCUS Group

What's the deal? The FOCUS Group (TFG), a 40-year-old fundraising consulting firm based in St. Augustine, Florida, has acquired RōmyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, an AI-powered donor prospect research platform. The deal closed August 14, 2026; terms were not disclosed.

What does Rōmy do? The platform uses AI to help nonprofits research their existing donor base and flag supporters with greater capacity to give. That work has traditionally been handled by prospect research tools TFG describes as often cost-prohibitive for smaller organisations.

Why now? Rōmy is young — founded by Howard Freeman, it generated its first revenue in December 2025. The acquisition is currently in beta ahead of a wider rollout.

The key hire: Freeman joins TFG as senior consultant and director of research. A longtime TFG client across three organisations, he now brings the platform in-house rather than running it independently.

What's the endgame? TFG says the tool augments its existing services without replacing its consultants. "AI-assisted prospect research isn't categorically different from the work our consultants have always done to learn about a donor," said chief executive officer Brad Layland. "It simply makes that process faster and more accessible."

The signal: The deal reflects a broader push to bring AI research capabilities — long reserved for the best-resourced organisations — to nonprofits of all sizes. TFG, which has contributed to more than 400 successful capital campaigns, is betting the technology can widen access without displacing the relationship-first model at the core of fundraising.

Read more: The FOCUS Group

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