ALTERNATIVE BREAK IN A BOX
How to Plan a Campus Organized Alternative Break
Campus Organized Alternative Break How To Guide 1
CONTENTS
Welcome and Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 3
Goals of Hillel’s Alternative Breaks ............................................................................................................. 3
Standards of practice .................................................................................................................................. 3
Student Leadership ......................................................................................................................................... 5
Potential Leadership Opportunities ........................................................................................................... 5
Alternative Break Theme .................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Partners and Providers ................................................................................................................................... 6
Choosing a partner ....................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Housing, meals and Transportation ............................................................................................................... 8
Housing ....................................................................................................................................................... 8
Meals .......................................................................................................................................................... 9
Transportation .......................................................................................................................................... 10
Budgets ......................................................................................................................................................... 10
Recruiting and selecting participants ........................................................................................................... 11
Application................................................................................................................................................ 13
Interview Conversations ........................................................................................................................... 14
Reflection and Educational Curriculum ........................................................................................................ 15
Resources ................................................................................................................................................. 15
Orientation ............................................................................................................................................... 16
Fundraising ................................................................................................................................................... 17
Friends Asking Friends .............................................................................................................................. 17
Fundraising Guide ..................................................................................................................................... 17
Descriptions .............................................................................................................................................. 17
Communication ............................................................................................................................................ 17
Additional Resources .................................................................................................................................... 18
Afterwards .................................................................................................................................................... 18
Campus Organized Alternative Break How To Guide 2
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION
We are so excited that your campus is participating in a Hillel Alternative Break this year! Campus
Organized Alternative Breaks take a significant amount of work, but the planning leads to an incredibly
customized meaningful week for the staff and participants. As Hillel looks to incubate and implement
new models to engage a wide variety of Jewish students and Jewish student leaders, we have created this
guide to help you plan a Campus Organized Alternative Break.
This guide will help you navigate the process that takes places before, during and after you and your
students embark on your journeys.
We’ll be in touch throughout the year with email updates, training and other resources but for now,
please familiarize yourself with the administrative process and everything that goes into getting your trip
from an idea to an experience with amazing students from recruitment to follow-through.
**This guide is meant to be complementary to Hillel’s Alternative Break Staff Manual, which has
additional resources on planning for Shabbat, reflection, ice breakers and hadracha (loosely defined as
how to be a group leader) and more. Find the manual at https://center.hillel.org.
GOALS OF HILLEL’S ALTERNATIVE BREAKS

To inspire participants to think about Jewish identity in new and meaningful ways.

To inspire participants to understand social justice as a part of Judaism.

To encourage participants to understand the needs and issues of the host community, and to use
this new understanding as a catalyst to be more aware and involved within other communities to
which they belong.

Developing and understanding the concept of Jewish peoplehood.

To have a positive, fun and meaningful experience.
STANDARDS OF PRACTICE
The field of Alternative Breaks, also known as Immersive Jewish Service Learning, is continually growing.
To ensure quality experiences that meet genuine community needs and build meaningful experiences for
participants, Repair the World created Interim Standards for Immersive Jewish Service Learning. (See AB
Resources Appendix for standards). All Hillel service-based Alternative Breaks must meet these standards.
Together, we can continue to foster young Jewish students’ sense of social responsibility through
meaningful volunteer and learning experiences.
Campus Organized Alternative Break How To Guide 3
OUTCOMES – WHAT DO WE WANT TO ACHIEVE?
LOGIC MODELS
A logic model is a means of assessing and evaluating the products of our work by analyzing the different
resources we input into a project as compared to how we achieve the goals of the project and what the
end results are.
They are valuable as they can help guide our decisions in taking on projects, or assessing the success of
projects. They function by breaking down the different elements that go into a given project and how they
relate to the projects goals and results.
When building a logic model for a new undertaking, it’s often helpful to begin at the end- focus on what
our desired goals and effects are and move forward from there.
There are four elements that make up a logic model:

Inputs: What we put into a project. Common inputs include money, time and supplies.

Activities: How we achieve our goal in the project, including our strategy and what we actually
do.

Outputs: Outputs measure our accomplishments, what the outcomes of the initiative or projects
are.

Outcomes: How we effected change. Outcomes differ from outputs in that they related to
behaviors or values, not necessarily about metrics.
DECIDING ON A TRIP THEME/LOCATION USING LOGIC MODELS
Below are questions to think through in building utilizing logic models in deciding on a given Alternative
Break trip Theme and location.
Outcomes: What do you want participants to walk away learning/knowing/feeling (attitude, behavior,
cognitive knowledge)? For whom, and how, will the service make an impact?
Inputs: What is our budget for contributing to this Break? What is a price point our students can handle?
Should we stay domestic or local or should we consider an international trip? How much staff time can we
dedicate to this Break? What supplies will we need to provide or create to make this Break successful? Do
we have students that can take leadership on this project?
Activities: What type of volunteering most appeals to our students? What type of students do we want to
attract and how can our volunteering project interest them? What resources do we have on/around
campus to utilize for follow through of our project?
Campus Organized Alternative Break How To Guide 4
Outputs: How many hours will we serve? How many people will we educate/provide resources for? What
resources will we provide/complete?
Sample Logic Model
Outcomes: We want to inspire our participants to take action back on campus and work with a local Boys
and Girls Club on a regular basis. Our focus for this trip will be education and working with low income
children. We want the students/service recipients to have a great week and feel validated that our
students came to hang out and help improve their center.
Inputs: We don’t have a huge budget to contribute to this Alternative Break, and our students have
limited funds to spend and fundraising abilities, so we will take a domestic trip that is driving distance
away from campus. We have a staff person who can dedicate a lot of time to the project and want a really
unique, customized experience, so will organize our own trip (ie not go through a partner such as Hillel,
JFSJ, etc).
Activities: We will volunteer with a local Boys and Girls club, spending time in the morning refurbishing
their space, and playing/hanging out/homeworking with the club students when they finish their school
day and come to the center for afterschool programming.
Outputs: We will re-paint the center, organize their library and spend 10 hours total tutoring or playing
with the children that come to the centers in the afternoons.
STUDENT LEADERSHIP
This is the place to start! Engage students that can take on leadership roles in helping to plan Alternative
Break. Not only will it make a daunting task seem much more doable, even more importantly -- student
investment will lead to stronger success, student ownership of an initiative leads to their own growth, and
peer to peer engagement is the best form of recruitment. The rest of the planning and suggestions in this
guide should build off of conversations you’ve had with Alternative Break student leaders.
POTENTIAL LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
ALTERNATIVE BREAK LEADERS: Engage 2 students from past Alternative Breaks to really lead and own
this year’s Alternative Break. You can choose them, or have an application process. Either way, be clear
what your expectations are of their time and role.
Description: Work with staff to plan the Alternative Break including choosing and
communicating with volunteer organization, planning the week, developing some activities, recruiting
participants and helping with follow-through.
OTHER LEADERSHIPROLES/COMMITTEES:
Campus Organized Alternative Break How To Guide 5

Fundraising

Shabbat

Recruitment

Historian

Social/Team Building
PARTNERS AND PROVIDERS
Part of what is so exciting about organizing your own Alternative Breaks is the amount of customization
you can integrate into the week. Many campuses decide to run their own trip exactly because there is a
specific theme or issue area that their students are interested in which no provider offers. Use the “Logic
Model” above to help you focus on outcomes when deciding what the focus of your Alternative Break will
be.
Some ideas for trip themes include the public education system, homelessness, politics, senior citizens,
refugees, immigration, hunger and disaster relief. Once you have an idea of the educational themes and
goals for your trip, can you really take the next step and identify a great match in a volunteering project or
partner.
Check out https://center.hillel.org - In the folder “Alternative Break in a Box – Campus Organized
Alternative Breaks” you will find outlines of Alternative Breaks different Hillels have organized on their
own in the past. These are great ideas that you can use to inspire you, or try and replicate directly.
CHOOSING A PARTNER
Once you have an idea of the type of volunteering work you would like to do, you can look for a partner to
do the service work with. Selecting and developing a relationship with a provider or partner is crucial to
the success of an Alternative Break. Regardless of whether the partnership will be short-term or longterm, broad or narrow, there are many things to keep in mind when building the relationship:
Who we are: From the beginning it is important that Hillel explain and reflect who we are as an
organization, stressing our mission, the goals of the program and the notion of pluralism. Whether the
trip is domestic or international, this may be the first time the host community has interacted with or met
Jews. This is the opportunity to share who Hillel is an organization and that we want to create meaningful
Jewish experiences so that Jewish undergraduate and graduate students will enrich the Jewish people and
the world. See AB Resources Appendix “Who Is Hillel?” for a sample document you could adapt and share
with potential partners.
Who they are: It is imperative that we understand the goals and history of the partner organization in
order to know that the work we are doing is ethical, organized and serving a need in the community.
Expectations: Each partner comes to the table with different expectations, whether it is how they
envision group size or dynamics or how long groups should be working for the day. In order to avoid
misunderstandings, it is important to be as upfront as possible regarding the needs and limitations of the
group.
Campus Organized Alternative Break How To Guide 6
Continuity: Over the course of the partnership, we will work with a number of different people. It is
imperative that communication of our goals and vision stays consistent and clear so that all of our
partners know not just our service goals, but how we envision this program as it relates to education,
identity and community.
Here are some tried and true ways to find a partner:

If you have a specific location in mind near a local Hillel, call the Hillel. They might do service
work regularly with a wonderful organization, or may have other recommendations for you.

On a similar note, contact a local Federation partner. Some Federations even employ full time
volunteer coordinators who would be happy to work with you and your students in finding a
great match- whether for a Jewish agency or not.

Contact your campus community service office. Although you’ll probably be travelling away from
campus, they might have contacts at national organizations that can connect you with a
wonderful opportunity at your desired location- or your location may come second to finding the
right volunteering match.

Break Away (www.alternativebreaks.org) – Break Away is a national organization that supports
student-led Alternative Breaks. Check out their website to see if your college is a member. If so,
ask the community service office if you can access website’s resources also (it is password
protected).

Search national organizations for listings of local offices or centers.

Other organizations to consider:
o
o
o
Habitat for Humanity and their “Collegiate Challenge”, www.habitat.org;
Global Volunteers – www.globalvolunteers.org)
Cross Cultural Solutions – www.crossculturalsolutions.org
QUESTIONS TO ASK A PARTNER ORGANIZATION
When looking at an organization, some important things to think about are:






What the volunteer work involves
What kind of community interaction they have
The number of students they can accommodate
If they have experience with alternative breaks
Have they worked with other schools
Do they provide insurance coverage for volunteers
Before confirming any partnership, however, make sure to ask the potential partner for references of
organizations or individuals who have served there- the volunteer work is the most significant part of your
Campus Organized Alternative Break How To Guide 7
day, and it’s important to do the background research and due diligence to ensure as much as possible
that you and your partner are on the same page.
HOUSING, MEALS AND TRANSPORTATION
Finding a comfortable, safe and affordable place to stay, food to eat, and a way to get around during your
Alternative Break are fairly straightforward planning pieces that can come together simply and quickly or
end up quite complicated.
As with all of the steps in planning for your Alternative Break trip, before selecting a housing location, a
transportation plan and securing meals, consider your budget and the needs of your group.
HOUSING
When selecting a place to stay over your Alternative Break there are a few considerations to keep in mind:

Timing. Ideally, your housing location will be not too far away from your volunteering sites, or
else a chunk of the day will be spent commuting. On the flip side, if you are volunteering in a
lower-income area you want to ensure that the surroundings are safe for your students.

Types of spaces. The ideal housing locations for your Alternative Break will include both rooms
and some communal space where participants can hang out, have planned group discussions,
meals or Shabbat activities.

Location. It’s exciting to be in the center of a city, but we also want to create an “immersion
bubble” where students hang out with each other and develop as a group rather than spending
all their free time out with either friends they came on the trip with, or the couple people the
clicked with quickly at the beginning of the week.

Shabbat plans. Are you creating your own services/spiritual experience with students? Can you
go to the local Hillel or a synagogue? Are you planning on driving to services or meals? Do you
have any students that are not okay with that and need to be walking distance from any Shabbat
options? Read more in the Shabbat section below.
It is fairly common for students to be roomed in quads, as they don’t spend very much time in their rooms
anyways, but make sure your housing will permit this and/or has cots available. Popular housing options
include youth hostels, YMCA dorm spaces, out of season camps or lower end hotels. Or go a different
route – floor of a synagogue, JCC, church or Hillel. Harder to come by, but still options.
Your volunteer partner may have ideas for places nearby where you can stay, so it can’t hurt to ask. And
of course, if you are staying in a location near a local Hillel or University, ask away! Your new contacts
might even be able to get you a discount.
Campus Organized Alternative Break How To Guide 8
MEALS
Ensuring your group is well fed is extremely important, and not always so simple to get done properly.
Alternative Breaks include long days, and days that include physical work that we are not used to in our
routines on campus for the most part.
Be clear from the get-go with your group as to what will be provided on the trip, and what they should
plan to pack with them or purchase on their own once at the location. For example, during the day snacks
are essential to keep everyone’s energy up (granola bars are a great option), but if snacks are not
accounted for in your budget, make sure to tell the group that they should bring snacks of their choosing
with them.
There are a bunch of different means to feeding the group on Alternative Break, and the decisions will
need to relate to your budget, what facilities are available, the needs of the group and the size of the
group.
With either cooking or ordering prepared food, it’s important to assess the needs of your group before
the trip and ensure that everyone is comfortable with the options provided and that enough food is
available for everyone’s different needs. Although no one expects to have lavish meals over the trip (we
hope!) meeting participants’ basic needs and making them feel taken care of really makes a huge
difference to the overall experience.
Cooking:
Some campuses choose to cook their own food during the trip. In these cases, a kitchen and necessary
equipment must be available at the housing site and time to buy groceries- and store and prepare them
must be accounted for. When campuses choose to prepare their own meals, teamwork is essentialstudent help is needed, and students on duty may have to wake up early, stay up late or arrive at the
volunteering site late or leave early.
If you choose to prepare your own meals, make sure the group knows what is expected of them and
shares responsibilities. Cooking is very cost efficient, and can be a great opportunity for the group to bond
and hang out together.
In this model, breakfasts are generally cold- cereal, milk, yogurts, fruit, or may include some nicer
elements such as bagels or pastries. Either way, breakfast is the meal that students most often skip on
campus, but are extremely important on Alternative Break to provide the nutrients and protein to power
the group’s morning of volunteering.
For lunch, campuses that do their own meals often have the students prepare bagged lunches in the
morning before leaving the housing sites. Lunches can be fairly straightforward- sandwich based with a
fruit, vegetable, and a couple types of snacks (perhaps chips/pretzels and granola bar/cookies).
Campus Organized Alternative Break How To Guide 9
Dinners can be more elaborate- at the end of a long day, it is nice to have a hot meal. Students can be
tasked with preparing meals together that don’t have to be fancy, but should be planned for. Comfort
foods are particularly appreciated- macaroni and cheese, chili, pizza, etc.
Prepared Food:
If facilities aren’t available or cooking isn’t appropriate you can also plan to buy meals. If you are in a
location with a nearby Hillel, if they have a meal plan that’s certainly a great option, or consider working
with one vendor to try to negotiate a discount considering the scope of your order.
See https://center.hillel.org, Alternative Break in a Box folder, for information on “Cooking Kosher Food”
on Alternative Break.
TRANSPORTATION
In planning for a Campus Organized Alternative Break there are two major pieces to organize relating to
transportation. The first is getting to your destination, and the second getting around once you’re there.
FLYING DISTANCE:
 Check if airlines have group rates (some airlines give discounts for volunteer experiences)
 STA Travel is known to give student discounts and group rates
 Provide arrival & departure times and let participants book their own flights (you may want to
approve flight times before they book them) and assign a meeting time and place
DRIVING DISTANCE:
 Check to see if your campus has deals with a rental company before you rent cars or vans
 Check to see if your campus has club vans you can utilize
 Is there a charter bus, public bus or train you can take?
 If public transportation is available where you’re volunteering, it could be your best option.
 As a fundraiser, ask people to donate gas cards or metro cards
 If it is a long trip – plan in advance where you will stop for the night, BOTH directions
 NOTE: Hillel does not permit for the use of 15 passenger vans due to safety concerns
If your location is driving distance and you have students driving themselves, but you have specific plans
for the week’s transportation (a bus, or public transportation- ie, you aren’t relying on them to drive to
your volunteer sites or activities) we recommend not allowing your students use of their own vehicles
during the trip. Aside from safety concerns of long days and an unfamiliar place, having some students
with cars can divide your group, and diminishes the Immersion bubble that makes for a powerful group
experience.
BUDGETS
When preparing your budget, make sure to calculate expenses both for each participant and for the group
as a whole. We recommend using Excel spreadsheets as they become handy when needing to enter
multiple amounts and doing calculations. Write out all expenses and sources of income (including things
Campus Organized Alternative Break How To Guide 10
that you get for free). As you get income, mark which expense it will cover. This will also help when
writing grant reports and thank you notes.
Expenses
 Transportation: to and from site and “on the ground” (this includes flights, rental car fees, gas,
tolls, and any necessary maps)
 Food: If you are making your own food, make sure to include the cost of utensils, pots, and pans.
If you are buying disposable or reusable plates, cups, and silverware, include this expense too.
 Housing (if not included)
 Site fees (if they apply)
 First aid / Emergency supplies
 Materials (for ice breakers/ group builders, education, and reflection): handouts, journals, pens,
etc.
 Any pre- and post-trip expenses: this includes supplies for orientation and follow-through
Income




Student fees
Individual fundraising
Group fundraising
Grants
See AB Resources Appendix for a sample budget worksheet.
RECRUITING AND SELECTING PARTICIPANTS
When we set out our plans for a year of opportunities at our Hillels, it’s essential for us to really consider
each event or initiative and how effective it is at helping us achieve our goals as a Hillel and what kind of
students do we hope it will engage. Alternative Breaks are no different. Each participant in an Alternative
Break represents an investment on our part- both time and financially.
This short guide will help you figure out how to best utilize the investment of an Alternative Break most
effectively and pulls best practices and thoughts from campus staff around the country in hoping to
create the best possible group of participants on your campus trip.
Step One: Begin at the End
During the process of deciding which trips to offer for the year ahead, speak with potential student
leaders and participants, consider what your overall Hillel goals are, and what kind of student you hope
will participate. Brainstorm an ideal outcome from an experience and take the steps backwards to
determine what makes most sense for you. In addition to an individual’s outcome such as “gaining a
personal sense of social responsibility,’ think about broader incomes for your Hillel. If you are looking for
a new batch of underclassmen as student leaders, consider a domestic trip that might seem less
intimidating than an international one. If your Hillel is trying to increasingly attract students involved in
Greek life, find out what some of their philanthropies are, and see if you can integrate them into your
Campus Organized Alternative Break How To Guide 11
schedule. If you’re hoping to widen green initiatives on campus, consider an Organic Farm trip which can
yield a group of students excited to help move that agenda along.
Engaging in social justice work is deeply Jewish at its core, and is a fundamental part of how we can
represent an essential way to be Jewish to our students. Alternative Break trips are not about going to a
“cool” place or doing a “poverty tour”, but committing to learning more about a theme, self-reflection
and taking part in the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world).
Alternative Breaks are an investment of Hillel in a participant. They require significant human resources
for a Hillel professional to plan and organize, build relationships, and focus on follow-through. Although
students are responsible for a range of costs depending on the trip, each Alternative Break is subsidized
significantly by the Hillel, the provider, and often Schusterman International Center. Recruiting with
intentionality will help you best meet your Hillel goals.
Step Two: Recruitment and Engagement
Recruitment is really about engagement – building relationships with students and suggesting Alternative
Break because it is something that you think would specifically interest that person. If you engage a new
student, whether they participate in Alternative Break or not doesn’t matter – either way, we have the
chance to connect them with a different Jewish opportunity. Our role on campus is to build one-on-one
relationships with students and to help move them along their Jewish Journeys. Recruitment for
Alternative Breaks is not just about getting students signed up, but a larger piece of our engagement
agenda.
For some campuses Alternative Breaks serve as a great “second trip” option following a Taglit- Birthright
Israel trip, or a great Hillel travel opportunity for students ineligible for Birthright. Other campuses view
Alternative Break trips as an ideal “first trip” with Hillel; of course it’s a Jewish trip, but it may seem less
Jewishly intimidating than a trip to Israel. And many in the current generation of students are heavily
focused on service, giving Alternative Breaks a more universal appeal than ever. Whether used as an
introduction to Jewish life on campus, or as a continued investment in a student’s Jewish Journey, it is
essential that we remember to always think about the students’ return to campus, rather than just our
time with them on the trip.
Logic Modeling: Outcomes: Validate students’ interest in social justice as a Jewish value. Best
Practice/Strategy: Engage students involved in service through the service learning office; meet with the
director of the service learning office.
What do we hope that this student will learn or gain from the experience, and what do we expect them to
achieve as a result of it should be ever-present questions in your mind while presenting students with an
Alternative Break opportunity. Make sure your students know that this trip will be a part of a process- not
just about the 7 days of service, but a longer term experience where they will learn and come together,
travel and afterwards, leverage their experiences to give back and follow through on campus. The more
we can be up front about our goals for the trip and expectations of the participants, the more successful
we will be in finding authentically committed candidates.
Campus Organized Alternative Break How To Guide 12
Step Three: Selecting Participants
Once the pool of applicants for your trip is complete, you have the ability to create the best group
possible for your trip. Some campuses engage in group interviews to get a sense of how each student acts
in a group setting with potentially unfamiliar people. Others are certain the best way to gauge the
emotional maturity of an applicant is one on one time. Either way, interviews are an essential tool in
learning about the applicant, why they want to go on the trip, how they will contribute to the group
during the experience, and figure out how they can contribute to your community upon their return. In
your interviews, make sure to let them know about pre-trip meetings and orientations, expectations for
fundraising, mention past projects other AB returnees have engaged in, and frame the trip as a catalyst
for their lives as much as possible.
When selecting participants, it’s key to think about Follow Through the whole time. Some questions you
should consider are your Hillel plans for the future. Is the student a “connector” on campus, on
newspaper or student government or athletics? Can you see them taking on ownership of a project latereither serving as a student intern or chairing and organizing an initiative of their own related to Jewish life
on campus?
It’s not wrong to expect things from your potential participants after the trip. The ultimate purpose of our
work, and the trip is to provide a transformative experience for participants which has lasting impact on
their lives, and inspires them to take action upon their return. In selecting the right students for the right
trips, we want to keep that goal in mind- not in a way that attaches strings to an opportunity, but
connects students with the right opportunity at the right time that will lead to their continued
engagement and ownership of their Jewish life.
APPLICATION
Elements to include in your application:
Biographical Information (NOTE: If you are receiving a grant from SIC, this information MUST be
collected.)
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


Name,
Address (including state and zip code)
Cellphone
Email



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Birth date
Gender
University
Graduation date

Dietary needs (vegetarian, gluten-free,
lactose, etc)
Medications [current]
Emergency Contacts (one or two
people): Name, Work Phone, Cell
Phone, Address and Relationship
Health and Emergency Information





Health Insurance Provider
Name on Policy
Policy Number
Accessibility requirements or physical
limitations
Medical treatment or professional
counseling [current]


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Short Answer Questions (Examples)
 Which activities do you currently participate in?
 Please list any leadership roles you have held/ hold? (past and present)
 Please list any prior service work (Jewish and secular)
 Why are you interested in the trip and what do you hope to get out of it?
 What do you think you could contribute as a participant, both during the
trip and upon your return to school?
 Have you previously participated in any Alternative Breaks?
INTERVIEW CONVERSATIONS
Interview Conversations are an essential step in the Alternative Break process. All students must be
interviewed before being selected to participate on any Alternative Break, as it is so important to get to
know the student and begin to build a relationship. The interview conversations ensure that a group
experience is right for the student, set expectations about orientations, the trip itself, and follow-through,
and give you a chance to find out out if there are any special needs which should be addressed (medical,
etc). An interview guide is available online in Hillel’s Document Library at https://center.hillel.org
Three Key Questions about Interviews:

What kinds of things should I be looking for?
Before the interview, review the student’s application and note possible warning flags such as past or
current medical conditions or other treatments, medication, disability/accessibility issues. These are all
areas to speak with the student about during the interview. The goal is to ensure that the applicant and
the trip are a good fit. If you have any questions about an applicant and his/her needs, please do not
hesitate to contact the Immersion Team.
Let us know if an applicant makes a special request or has certain needs and we will do our best to
accommodate them if possible. If you do not tell us, we have no way of preparing for that student. Be
sure to put it on the interview form AND e-mail us to give us a heads up so we may plan accordingly.

When should I conduct interviews?
It’s best to interview your applicants as soon as they apply!
For winter break trips, acceptance decisions will need to be made by late November/early December, so
interviews must be completed by then.
For March trips, don’t put off all your interviews until after winter break. You have a great chance to
jumpstart these students’ Jewish involvement now by setting up interviews as soon as students submit
their applications! You also don’t want to make these students feel like Hillel doesn’t care about them
because they don’t hear anything from you for weeks or months after they apply. Maintain active
relationships with all applicants from now until the trip, and beyond. Make sure to check your
registration site regularly to ensure you don’t miss any applicants.
Campus Organized Alternative Break How To Guide 14

How should I interview?
Alternative Break interview forms are available online in Hillel’s Document Library at
https://center.hillel.org. Feel free to use it as a guide, and adjust it to suit your style or relationship with
the student.
Allow yourself 30 minutes per interview. In addition to the actual conversation, this will give you time to
review their application and make notes on their interview form afterwards.
Hillel’s trip is a very intense experience. The more knowledge about an individual we have, the better
prepared the staff will be to serve the participants’ needs. Assure the applicants that any personal
information gathered during the interview will only be shared with necessary staff members and
confidentiality will be kept. We will provide you with interview guidelines and questions to frame your
discussions with potential applicants.
REFLECTION AND EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUM
Alternative Breaks are also know as service learning, “a teaching and learning strategy that integrates
meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach
civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.” (www.cns.gov) Integral to the success of Hillel’s
Alternative Breaks are 10 hours of meaningful education, broadly defined to include speakers, issue
education, Jewish learning and reflection.
RESOURCES
ALTERNATIVE BREAK CURRICULUM

Find at https://center.hillel.org. Feel free to edit, adapt and make it your own!
ALTERNATIVE BREAK MANUAL
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“Reflection Toolkit” Tips and ideas of how to lead reflection with your group.
OTHER TYPES OF LEARNING
Finally, the “learning” in service learning, isn’t just about small group discussion and reflection. Think
about some additional opportunities:
Local community: The local community is an integral piece of every Alternative Break experience.
Whether it is a conversation with a mayor in the cooperative in Nicaragua or a conversation with a
homeowner in New Orleans, hearing from the people living in that community is very powerful. Speak
with your service partner to invite someone from the local community to speak with the group. Have
students think in advance what type of questions they would like to ask.
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Location Orientation: Students may have never been to the place where they are working. It is important
to provide them with a context for the work and the community. Try to speak with the partner or provider
ahead of time to schedule a tour of the location where you are working.
Issue orientation: Students are drawn to these experiences for many different reasons—it could be the
issues, the location, or the fact that their friends were going. It is important to devote time to exploring
the root issue of the work you are doing for the week. This is a great place to reach out to your work
provider to ask them to speak about their organization’s goals and vision. You may also consider reaching
out to a local professor or journalist to speak about the topic if it is relevant.
Culture: Alternative Breaks are serious service-learning opportunities but it is OK to have fun! Every
community has something local or new to offer the students—music, art, and food are great places to
start when trying to plan something fun and cultural for the group. Speak with the local partners to see
what they suggest.
ORIENTATION
Orientation is one of the most important things you can provide for participants on your trip. It gives them
a sense of security, details about what will actually be happening on the trip, begins to build a group
dynamic, provides space for learning about the partner organization, issue you’ll be tackling, expectations
of the experience, and sets the stage for Jewish exploration. If you will be staffing the trip, it gives you an
additional opportunity to bond with the group before arriving on site. Hillel requires a minimum of two
orientation sessions, but we encourage three or more. Some campuses require participants to meet
weekly for the month or two leading up to the Alternative Break and in addition to what is listed below,
do a local volunteer project together and invite faculty members to speak about the issues they will be
encountering.
As a part of orientation, make sure to:
1.
Create community-- build in interactive icebreakers and discussions that allow participants to
really start getting to know each other and establish a safe space among the group
2.
Introduce discussion and reflection -- it is important to set a tone for reflection about questions
and issues at the core of the program.
3.
Learn about the local community you will be visiting and particular issues you will be
encountering.
4.
Review logistics-- details about the housing, the work partners, evening activities and the week’s
itinerary.
Additionally, based on your specific program you may also:
5.
Sign Waivers—there are a number of waivers that all participants must sign. This may include a
Hillel waiver and various waivers for each work partner and the housing site. See AB Resources
Appendix for sample waiver and behavior and responsibility agreements.
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FUNDRAISING
Fundraising can be the most daunting aspect of Alternative Breaks, but it is totally doable if you plan in
advance and work as a team with all of the participants.
Of course, there’s work involved with raising money, but often times when students work together to
raise money for their trip it builds a great spirit of teamwork in the group and helps build their
commitment to making the experience as meaningful as possible. See below for two resources:
FRIENDS ASKING FRIENDS
An online fundraising tool that allows individuals or Hillels to raise funds for Alternative Break experiences
by sending emails to friends and families asking for online donations. Campuses are able to create a
webpage unique to their own Alternative Break experience. Included on the site are a description of
Hillel, the Alternative Break experience, letter writing templates, and a way to track all the funds raised.
Funds will be forwarded directly to participating campuses. Find the Friends Asking Friends guide at
https://center.hillel.org.
FUNDRAISING GUIDE
To help your students raise money for the trip, we have created a new and improved Guide to Fundraising
for Alternative Breaks available online in Hillel’s Document Library at https://center.hillel.org. The guide
is a wonderful tool to help as many of our students participate on their Alternative Breaks as affordably as
possible and includes information on soliciting donations from a funder, and creating small and large scale
events.
DESCRIPTIONS
It is also important to tell others about your Alternative Break as part of fundraising. Share information
with Hillel’s board, the community, local Federation, etc. See AB Resources Appendix for two examples of
“one pagers” that you can share with different stakeholders.
COMMUNICATION
The more that a staff member knows the better prepared they are to work with students. The more
prepared and in the know students are, the smoother the trip runs. It behooves all parties to be in
consistent contact with all members of the delegation that is traveling to the host community.
Emails:
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Emails should be sent on a regular basis to keep students in the loop. There should be an agenda at the
top of each email so participants can refer back when necessary. The emails should include any and all
pertinent information on:
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Partners
Accommodation
Airport and travel procedures
Registration instructions
Packing Lists
Schedules

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Shabbat
Waivers
Orientation
Policies: Free Time, Alcohol, etc.
Volunteer Projects
Fundraising
Another great reason to email students is to share information on the host community/issue. Separate
from the logistics emails, it is a great way to share articles, blogs or videos about the work or host
community that you will be in during the trip.
Blogs:
Create a blog for your Alternative Break (try www.blogspot.com). Have students sign-up to blog each day,
and include pictures too! It is a great way to get student reflections, create PR, and keep family, friends
and other stakeholders (Hillel board, university, etc) engaged in what you are doing. Set it up beforehand
with an explanation of what you’re doing, dates, group picture, etc. Post a link to the blog on your Hillel’s
website.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Other resources you may find helpful:



Alternative Break checklist – see everything you need to do in one place
Memorandum of Understanding – An agreement between your Hillel and the volunteer
organization
Managing Risk – A checklist compiled by Schusterman International Center
AFTERWARDS
In addition to follow-through, there are other things that happen after the Alternative Break.

Thank You Cards – send thank you cards to everyone you worked with – volunteer organization,
speakers, funders, etc. Consider making a card out of a group picture.

Budget – Make sure you reconcile the budget. Track all of your actual expenses and income to
make sure you come out even.
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
Participant Data – Send participant data chart (if you received a grant from SIC) to Isabel,
igassman@hillel.org

Collect any articles, presentations, videos etc and send them to SIC! We love to see what you
were doing.
LAST WORDS
You can find additional resources that are mentioned in this document at https://center.hillel.org, in the
Alternative Break in a Box folder – “AB Resources Appendix”.
Good luck, and please give us a call anytime. We’re here to help and support you as you plan your
Alternative Break!
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