28 Sept 2026
4 min read
Good phone scripts for a non-profit organisation prevent re-recordings and frustrations. Discover 5 practical insights straight from the recording studio.
Last week in the studio, we just managed to prevent a social organisation from having to re-record its entire welcome menu. Good phone scripts for a non-profit organisation need a very different approach than those for a commercial company. People looking for help or wanting to donate will hang up if they encounter cold menu options and wordy texts. Below, I share five practical steps to build your scripts correctly from the start and avoid unnecessary recording costs.
Callers to a non-profit want to know immediately if they have reached the right place. If a caller in need first hears a list of four departments without the organisation's name, doubt arises, and they often just hang up.
So, always state your organisation's name first, followed by a warm and reassuring welcome. Only then do you gently guide people to the right team member. In the recording studio, we notice that callers to a non-profit organisation need more calm than a strict business pace.
A classic mistake that costs organisations money and callers is offering too many options. As soon as a menu has more than three or four possibilities, people forget option one by the time they reach option four.
So, build your menu with a logical structure:
When you state the number before the description, listeners have to remember the number while they are still trying to understand what the option means. This leads to incorrectly chosen options and extra work for your volunteers or permanent staff.
An out-of-hours message is a telephone announcement that manages callers when no one is physically available to answer the call. A specific example of this for a non-profit organisation is a weekend message referring to an emergency number or an email address for general inquiries.
Many organisations forget to offer alternatives in this script. Don't just say the office is closed; explain when you will be available again and where people can go in the meantime. A caller who knows when they will receive a callback or where to find an answer online feels taken seriously and will be less likely to get frustrated.
In the studio, it often happens that a text reads smoothly on paper, but a voice actor stumbles over the sentences during the recording. Spoken language works very differently from written language:
As a director's tip, I always suggest: read the phone script aloud three times yourself, with a stopwatch in hand. As soon as you gasp for breath or a word feels awkward on your tongue, you know the text needs refining before you head into the studio. This saves a lot of re-records.
The tone of your telephony determines how accessible your organisation feels. For a non-profit organisation in Flanders, a natural, warm, and trustworthy voice almost always works best. Our voices, such as Bernard, Veerle, or Kristien, know exactly how to convey a message kindly and clearly, without sounding detached or overly cheerful.When your scripts are ready, you choose a voice actor who matches your organisation's target audience. We have 140 voices available on our platform and have delivered over 4200 projects. Time and again, we see that choosing the right voice significantly lowers the barrier for callers.
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Try to keep the greeting and menu options under 25 to 30 seconds. Callers to an NPO want to get help quickly or to ask their question. A lengthy introduction can irritate people. They might hang up prematurely.
That depends on your operating region. If your organisation operates across Belgium or in Brussels, we strongly recommend a bilingual structure (Dutch and French). You can then offer callers a language choice immediately at the start, using a short menu.
Do you want to write your own texts? Are you looking for specific inspiration for your phone system? Feel free to check out our example texts or contact us. We can take a look at your scripts together.
Short and to the point. Click to see the answer.
What does a professional phone message cost?
The price depends on how long your text is and which message you need (welcome, menu or hold). As soon as you pick a voice, you see what it costs. Hold music is optional.
How much does a professional voice-over cost?
The price depends on three factors: the medium (corporate video, radio advert, telephony), the licence duration (1 year, unlimited) and the script length. With Voices, you see the exact price per voice artist before you order. No surprises later on.
A short corporate video starts from a modest amount. A radio advert with national reach costs more due to the buyout (broadcasting rights). Telephone messages are generally the most affordable.
Tip: enter your script for the voice of your choice and you will instantly see the cost.
What exactly does a buy-out entail in voice-over?
A buy-out is the right to use your recording on a medium (radio, TV, online, telephony) for an agreed period. You'll see it reflected in your price before payment on /tarieven/.
Learn more: buy-out explained · dictionary.
Is a home demo as good as a studio demo?
Short definitions that help you decide faster.
Voice-overs for telephone menus, messages on hold, and voicemails. We charge per prompt (one short message) or per word, depending on the scope.
For larger telephony projects (multi-level IVR, multilingual, holiday and public holiday messages), we provide a package price.
IVR selection menu with options ("press 1", "press 2"). Helps callers reach the correct service more quickly.
Reviews from customers who have worked with us.
“The workshop 'Documentary Voice-Over' is highly recommended! A few days before the workshop, we received the video (without voice-over) and the text we would be reading so we could prepare. During the workshop day, everyone had enough time to practice behind the microphone and received immediate feedback. In short: I found it to be a very valuable workshop and I left with a lot of tips.”
Susanne Verberk
Listen to a selection of voice actors and find the right voice for your project.
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Finding this useful? Add us as a preferred source in Google. You will see our tips more often in search and AI answers.
What does a professional telephone message cost?
A welcome message or phone menu from a professional voice is surprisingly affordable. The price depends on the length of your text and the type of message (welcome message, phone menu, on-hold message).
At Voices, you can see the price instantly for your chosen voice. On-hold music from our library can be added separately. Most clients receive their audio within 1 to 2 working days.
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Do you also record voice prompts for IVR and phone systems?
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How long should my telephone message be?
“I am very happy that I attended the 'Pamper Your Voice' workshop! Bernadette Timmermans first gave us some general background information about the voice (vocal cords), but what I found most valuable was that through the small, simple exercises that followed, you could immediately hear (and feel) in yourself and in the other participants the impact that good breath support has on your voice! And all of this in a relaxed, informal - at times cheerful - atmosphere. Moreover, we received plenty of tips and some teaching materials to take home for further practice. Inspiring and motivating, indeed. Great!”
Petra Robben
“Request submitted and they review the text again, making some adjustments where necessary. If there's any detail the client finds a bit difficult in the produced audio, they resolve it very quickly and create a new audio on the same day. Highly recommended and very professional service now. Top! I was assisted and recorded by Johfrah.”
Kevin De Nil
