Support the Museum That Champions Community

From the heart of one of San Francisco’s most vibrant yet misunderstood neighborhoods, your gift helps the Tenderloin Museum preserve untold stories, celebrate culture, and expand into a new space that will share the community’s impact for generations.

DONATE TODAY

Jump to: Tenderloin Museum Expansion

Through our history education programs and live events, we make the case for the preservation and appreciation of a unique, diverse district whose iconoclasm is an emblem for San Francisco itself. We make sure the Tenderloin Museum benefits the neighborhood itself through close community collaborations, local hiring practices, and programs that empower people from all walks of life to think of themselves as historical actors. 

As a 501 (c)(3) non profit, the Tenderloin Museum, counts on the generosity of its community to survive. We offer a variety of ways to contribute to our work, including cash donations in any amount, memberships, corporate sponsorship, in-kind gifts, bequests, and volunteering.

The Tenderloin Museum's legal name is Uptown Tenderloin, Inc., and our taxpayer ID number is 36-4643665. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent of the law.

Contact us to learn more:
(415) 351-1912
info@tenderloinmuseum.org

Prefer to donate offline?
Please mail your check to:
Tenderloin Museum
398 Eddy Street
San Francisco, CA 94102

Help Us Open Our (New) Doors!

Make a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation to the Tenderloin Museum’s Expansion Project. Help the Tenderloin Museum expand its footprint—making it three times larger—to tell more stories, open new exhibits, and preserve the history and vitality of the community. The more money we raise, the sooner we can open the doors of our new space to the neighborhood.

We’re on the brink of something extraordinary…

Tenderloin Museum Expansion Project

In 2026, we’ll open a new 6,850-square-foot space that triples our size and lets us tell more Tenderloin stories than ever!

Jump to: Tenderloin Museum Expansion

Thank You to Our Expansion Project Donors!

Special Recognition ($10,000+)

Anonymous

Anchor Investors ($5,000–9,999)

Bhupen & Sejal Amin, Anonymous, MR Thraikill

Foundation Builder ($1,000–2,499)

David Amarathithada, Anonymous, Juliana Grenzeback

Neighborhood Champion ($500–999)

Anonymous, James Morehead

Cornerstone Contributor ($100–499)

Anonymous, Robert Byrne, Corinna Darian-Smith, Elisa, Dave Glass, Happy House, Ron Johnson, Keith Kurson, June Lee, Cody Maloney, Robert Mansfield, Mel Mason, Diana Miller, Blake Riley, Del Seymour, Linda Stanley, Susan Stryker

Community Contributor ($50–99)

Anonymous, Anne Bluethenthal, Summer C., Nana Dawson-Andoh, Jay D. Egger, Michele Francis, Liz Keim, Michelle, Kathy Rose O’Regan, Suzannah Rose, Lex Sloan, Christopher Ulrich

Key Contributor ($1–49)

Anonymous, Darwin Bell, Dan C., Steve Dalton, LisaRuth Elliott, Michael Groh, Frank Janeczek, Jill Morrison, Annie Sprinkle, Adrienne Storey, Elizabeth Kim Waldron, Kevin Woodruff

Why Your Donation Matters

The Tenderloin Museum preserves the stories, struggles, and culture of one of San Francisco’s most significant neighborhoods. Your support ensures we can continue offering exhibitions, walking tours, performances, youth programming, and community-driven events that bring local history to life. Every contribution directly strengthens our mission and helps us share more Tenderloin stories with the world.

Choose How You Want to Support the Community

You can direct your donation toward the museum’s annual programming and exhibitions or toward our historic expansion effort. Both needs are essential, and both help us serve the Tenderloin community. You may also support the museum by becoming a member.

DONATE NOW

General Support
Your general support keeps the museum running. It sustains daily operations, exhibitions, staff, public programs, The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot play, and community partnerships year-round.

Expansion Campaign
In 2026, the Tenderloin Museum will open a new 6,850-square-foot space that triples our size, adds new galleries, offers flexible performance space, and deepens our ability to tell the neighborhood’s stories. Expansion gifts accelerate construction, exhibitions, and expanded programming for the community.

EXPANDING OUR IMPACT: THE TENDERLOIN MUSEUM TRIPLES ITS SIZE

The home of the future expanded Tenderloin Museum at 316 Leavenworth St., next door to the museum’s current space.

The Tenderloin Museum is growing—tripling its size with a new 6,850-square-foot historic space that will deepen our impact and expand our ability to tell the neighborhood’s story. This transformative project builds on a decade of celebrating one of San Francisco’s most vibrant yet misunderstood communities, creating room for new exhibitions, community programs, arts spaces, and storefronts that uplift local culture and strengthen the Tenderloin’s role in the city’s revitalization. Your support brings this vision to life.

Learn More About the Expansion

  • For more than 10 years, the Tenderloin Museum has preserved and shared the history of one of San Francisco’s most vibrant and misunderstood neighborhoods. As the museum’s audience, programming, and exhibitions have grown, so has the need for space that can properly support this work. Expanding allows the museum to more fully reflect the scale, complexity, and cultural importance of the Tenderloin.

  • Tenderloin Museum has secured a new 6,850-square-foot historic space at 316 Leavenworth Street, immediately adjacent to its current home at 398 Eddy Street. This expansion will triple the museum’s footprint, allowing for dedicated exhibition galleries, expanded archival capacity, flexible event and performance space, and improved visitor accessibility—all within the neighborhood the museum exists to serve.

  • The expanded museum is designed to function as a long-term cultural anchor for the Tenderloin. By centering neighborhood history, creativity, and lived experience, the museum challenges long-standing narratives and highlights the Tenderloin’s role as a driver of activism, artistic innovation, and community resilience within San Francisco’s broader history.

  • Revitalizing San Francisco begins by investing in neighborhoods that have historically been marginalized. The Tenderloin has long been a rare affordable haven for artists, immigrants, low-income workers, and cultural organizers. This expansion strengthens the museum’s ability to uplift those communities while contributing to a more inclusive vision of neighborhood-based revitalization.

  • In addition to expanded galleries, the new museum will support a wider range of public programs, educational initiatives, community events, and rentals. These spaces allow the museum to operate sustainably while serving as a gathering place for residents, artists, historians, and visitors engaging directly with Tenderloin culture and history.

  • As part of the expansion, the Tenderloin Museum will open two new storefronts, creating opportunities for commerce, visibility, and neighborhood activation. By increasing foot traffic and street-level engagement, the museum contributes to the Tenderloin’s economic vitality while remaining grounded in community-centered values.

Tenderloin Museum Expansion Project Presentation Drawing by Page & Turnbull

Presentation board of the proposed museum expansion by Page & Turnbull. The architecture firm is leading the project.

Planned Exhibitions in the Expanded Space

Here’s a Sneak Peek at What We’re Planning

Boxing in the Bay – Summer 2026
This inaugural exhibition explores the largely uncollected history of Newman’s Boxing Gym, once home to local legends and international icons including Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Drawing from rare photographs, ephemera, and oral histories, the exhibition brings San Francisco’s boxing legacy to life through the lens of the Tenderloin.

Signs of the Times: Little Saigon Remembered – Fall 2026
Artist Michelle “Meng” Nguyen will create large-scale works inspired by her upbringing in Little Saigon, transforming the gallery into an immersive exploration of the Tenderloin’s Vietnamese diaspora through art, storytelling, and community workshops.

Youth in the Tenderloin – Winter 2026/27
This exhibition centers the experiences of the approximately 4,000 young people who call the Tenderloin home, tracing the history of youth-serving organizations—from Head Start to the Boys & Girls Club—and pairing archival materials with new oral histories.

Art & Activism in the Tenderloin – Spring 2027
Developed in partnership with Hospitality House’s Community Arts Program, this exhibition celebrates over 60 years of art-driven activism in the Tenderloin, featuring archival materials, community artists, and the stories of a radical creative movement rooted in the neighborhood.