FORT MYERS, Fla. — Hard times are reshaping the way some businesses are giving to charity.

Companies are cutting back on the cash, but contributions of time and talents appear stronger than ever.

"I'm actually seeing more interest from companies in getting involved," said Marshall Bower, executive director of the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools. "That doesn't necessarily translate to them opening up their pocketbooks."

Although the schools foundation raised about $100,000 more in 2007 than the previous year, Bower said he's seen a bigger upswing in volunteerism than in dollars.

Over the past 18 months, Fort Myers-based national clothing retailer Chico's FAS has trimmed contributions to its Chico's Charities foundation by about half, said Cole Peacock, director of corporate relations. Chico's reported that slumping sales had cut profits by 80 percent for the quarter ended Aug. 4.

In response, Chico's is focusing "on certain (charitable) programs with which we've had a long relationship," Peacock said. The company also continues to give its more than 1,000 Lee County-based employees the option of an additional paid day off in order to volunteer their services to causes ranging from beach cleanup to helping out at Boys and Girls Clubs to building Habitat for Humanity homes.

All forms of charitable giving in the United States reached an estimated $306.39 billion in 2007, topping $300 billion for the first time, according to the Giving USA Foundation.

That was nearly 4 percent higher than in 2006, said the report, which was researched and written by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

When the economy is roiling like it is now, what happens? A September report by the same institutions suggests the impact on charity is not as dire as one might think.

According to the report "Giving During Recessions and Economic Slowdowns," total giving in the United States has risen in current dollars every year but one since this kind of data was recorded.

The exception was 1987, when a tax law change the previous year prompted some people to give early to maximize the value of deductions they could claim.

And whether there's black ink or red ink in the ledger, this is the month people think pink: That's the color for the national campaign to beat breast cancer.

At Lovegrove Gallery and Gardens on the island of Matlacha, gallery owner Leoma Lovegrove painted 100 coconuts pink, and emblazoned them with sayings such as "nuts to cancer" and "celebrate courage."

They sell for $15. Half the proceeds from the pink coconut sales and that of some other recycled art will go to Partners for Breast Cancer Care and Lee Cancer Care, Lovegrove said.

Even a business called Blu is putting on the pink. Last year, Blu Sushi restaurant group debuted the Coco Pink Chanel martini and a Pink Cadillac roll of salmon, cucumber and other savories to raise money and awareness for the local chapter of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

"We gave a dollar to Susan G. Komen for every (pink) martini and roll we sold," said Larry "Smokey" Genta, restaurant group managing director and creator of the pink martini.

"The thing that we can do best is to help with awareness," Genta said. "And, what better way to give than to get out, and have some fun?"