The article discusses and compares the Indonesian Muslims’ and Christians’ expereicnes in projecting their religious concepts of philanthropy for social change. Religious philanthropy has been practiced by Muslims and Christians for centuries. There are various verses in the Qur’an and Bible inspiring Muslims and Christians to serve the communities by providing aid for the poor and helping underprveliedged groups. While Muslims and Christians through their associations are still active in running social services, there have been trends among Muslim and Christian intellectuals and theologians in Indonesia to invent new forms of philanthropy by reinterpreting religious doctrines. In order to transform society and to support collective change in the communities, Muslims have attempted reformulate practices of zakat and sadaqa, while Christians have endeavored to sharpen the meaning and scope of Christian diakonia.