I seem to be having some trouble searching the forums, so I apologize if this is a redundant question, but here are the things I'm trying to accomplish:
1. HOME PAGE - I would like my homepage to display in one layout, with four content areas, below a header: the top-left contains a "story" (I guess) that will essentially be static text (it's the "welcome to my organization's site" text); the top-right contains a styled block with the menu and login; the bottom-left contains only the recent blog entries; and the bottom-right contains another block with a list of upcoming events (whether in a module or using taxonomy terms; that's not the important thing).
2. SUBORDINATE PAGE - For example, titled "For Nonprofits", this page should have only two sections: on the left, a "story" containing the content targeted at nonprofits, and on the right a block containing links to the top-level taxonomy terms (I guess) for that audience (i.e., a list of items of interest). All pages on the site will have this two-column layout except the homepage, though the blocks may differ. (The menu with login block, etc., will appear on the right above the "related terms" block.)
3. SUB-SUBORDINATE PAGE - If the user clicks on one of the terms on the "For Nonprofits" page, "Tax" for example, I'd like a page where the content is the information on the left and a list of related terms in a block on the right.