AngularJS Example

HTML

<div ng-app ng-controller="MyCtrl">
    <select ng-model="referral.organization" ng-options="c.name for c in organizations"></select>
    {{referral}}
    <button ng-click="loadReferral()">load referral</button>
</div>

JavaScript

function MyCtrl($scope) {
    $scope.organizations = [{name:'a'}, {name:'b'}, {name:'c'}, {name:'d'}, {name:'e'}];
    $scope.referral = {
        organization: $scope.organizations[2]
    };
    $scope.loadReferral = function () {
        $scope.referral = {
            other: 'parts',
            of: 'referral',
            organization: {name:'b'}
        };
        
        angular.forEach($scope.organizations, function(value, key) {
            if ($scope.organizations[key].name === value.name) {
                $scope.referral.organization = $scope.organizations[key];
                return false;
            }
        });
       
    };
}