San Francisco ? The nation’s top philanthropists continue to share hefty sums of their wealth despite the country’s recession and the stumbling stock market.

Colleges and universities attracted the most gifts from the top donors, followed by hospitals and medical centers, according to a survey released Sunday by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

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The 66 “most generous donors” on the list gave a total of $10.2 billion in 2001, with an additional $2.2 billion in unpaid pledges.

That’s up from the previous year’s combined total of $7.4 billion.

It’s interesting that “giving was as strong as it was even though it was a pretty difficult year financially,” said Stacey Palmer, editor of the biweekly Chronicle, which compiled the list largely from the reports of organizations that received the gifts.

The bulk of the donors’ wealth was based on finance, real estate or technology.

Intel Corp. founder Gordon Moore and his wife, Betty, topped the list with $6.13 billion pledged or donated in 2001, including a record $600 million pledged over 10 years to the California Institute of Technology, Moore’s alma mater.

Much of that money went to the Moores’ new charitable foundation, which will gradually redistribute it to other causes, including the environment and technology, said Genny Biggs, spokeswoman for the San Francisco-based Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, ranked No. 2 on the donors’ list, giving $2 billion to boost the endowment of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and to increase the availability of vaccines for preventable diseases of children in poor countries.

It’s only the survey’s second year, but changes were evident as a result of the roller coaster economy, Palmer said.

For example, the technology downturn may have forced younger donors off the list, Palmer said. The youngest top donor in 2001 was 36-year-old Melinda Gates, while the 2000 list included a 26-year-old donor with a computer security business.

“This year we’re kind of back to a little bit more of the traditional people, giving at a later stage of life,” Palmer said.

And although the list does not distinguish gifts made for Sept. 11 relief from other donations, Palmer said more than $150 million in donations went to New York’s Bard College from trustees concerned about the institution’s fund-raising prospects after the terrorist attacks.

“It kind of shows how people were re-examining their values after Sept. 11,” Palmer said.

American Century Cos. founder James Stowers and his wife, Virginia, ranked as the third-highest donors, giving $1.12 billion. The Stowerses provided start-up funding for the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, Mo., a collaborative project with the Kansas University Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan.

The estate of the late South Carolina landowner John Hollingsworth Jr. distributed $400 million, and SunAmerica Inc. Chairman Eli Broad and his wife, Edythe, donated $387.89 million.

The list does not include anonymous donations.