 <p>You could do the fallowing...</p> <pre><code>var GroupSelectView = Backbone.View.extend({ el: $("select"), initialize: function() { var that = this; this.collection = new UserGroups(); this.collection.on( 'change', this.render, this ); // You could try this too, 1 is for 1 item is added, the other, when all items are changed // this.postCollection.on('add', this.addOne, this); // this.postCollection.on('reset', this.addAll, this); this.render(); }, render: function(){ _.each(this.collection.models, function(group){ $("&lt;option/&gt;", { value: group.get("Id"), text: group.get("Name")} ).appendTo(this.el) }, this); }, }); </code></pre>