The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the owner or director of at least 17 legal entities in the United States. Non-profit scholar Aaron Miller noted, "The the reasons for this are many. The idea of the church just being one legal entity doesn't actually make sense when you understand the reasons you have multiple different legal entities, how they serve different purposes, how they need to be treated differently for tax purposes."^[1]

Can nonprofits (including churches) make money? "one of the common misconceptions is that nonprofits can't own things, nor can they make money. Uh, they're fully entitled to own just about anything else that anybody can own. Um, there are a handful of limitations depending on the kind of nonprofit and uh, and so forth.

But, uh, and then the other misconceptions that nonprofits can't make a profit, it's, it's actually, so I teach a nonprofit structure and finance class, um, uh, to master of public administration students on the very first day. I point that out. I say, look, if, if a nonprofit's not making a profit, it goes outta business.

Nonprofits have expenses and they need revenue to cover those expenses."

Notes

1. ↑ Aaron Miller, in "Episode 173. The $100 Billion Question—A Conversation with Aaron Miller," Faith Matters, 2 July 2023.