💌 MVacay’s Non-Gift Guide: Experiences, Memberships + Meaningful Options
Activities, local wellness gift cards, and 50+ thoughtful, non-stuff ideas
Gifts that aren’t gifts! Gifts for minimalists! Gifts for the person who has everything! Gifts for a good cause! Sometimes a material gift isn’t the right pick, so this guide goes beyond that with creative ideas that also support local (and most can be bought online). Enjoy!
💻 Gifts to Use on Martha’s Vineyard
🎟️ Memberships
Memberships are a great way to help someone explore a new place or interest, and they subsidize the cost of events year-round.
Mass Audubon ~$50 standard / $35 new-member special through Nov 30
MV Agricultural Society ~$50 Adult / $25 Junior / $125 Family
MV Film Society ~$40 (Individual) / ~$70 (Dual)
MV Museum $55 basic (pair this with a walk and Cocoa at First Light)
MV Playhouse $60
MV Rod & Gun Club $200+
MV Sharks Season Pass IOU
Polly Hill ~$50 / $75 / $100
The Trustees/Farm Institute $60
If you don’t find anything you love on this list, check out my 2025 Gift Guide, 2024 Gift Guide, 2023 Gift Guide, 2022 Gift Guide, or 2021 Gift Guide for additional ideas.
🧘♀️Experiences
💳 Wellness Service Gift Cards
Treat someone to a service! Here are a few spas and providers with online gift cards available that are open year-round:
Aligned Pilates (Holiday gift options)
DermaSea (specials thru 11/30)
Sea Spa (Gift Card specials thru 12/24)
🧑🤝🧑 Do Together / Small Group Activities
Plan for quality time together! All activities take place on MV. All of these offer gift cards and most are ❄️ available year-round.
Create Custom Totes or Stockings at Toteally Yours ❄️
All-Ages Horse Experiences at Misty Meadows ❄️
Create a Custom Charm Necklace at Stefanie Wolf Designs (20% right now) ❄️
Pasta Making Class with MV Pasta ❄️
Meditation Class at Stillpoint ❄️
Tour of African American Heritage Trail of Martha’s Vineyard ❄️
Art Class at Featherstone Center for the Arts ❄️
Cocktail Making Class with Social Coast ❄️
Cooking Class at The FARM Institute ❄️
Luxury Picnic Set Up with MV Picnic (they do holiday, kid and activity based options too!) ❄️
Needlepoint Lessons or Canvases at Erica Wilson Needlepoint ❄️
Permanent Bracelets with Forever MV ❄️
Electric Bike Tour across MV with Pedego ❄️
Tarot card readings with Mermaid Tarot ❄️
Private Pickleball Court Rental + Lesson at Airport Fitness ❄️
Biplane Ride with Classic Aviators
Charter Sunset Boat Ride with Cottage City Charters
A Guided SUP or Kayak Tour with Island Spirit
🍪 Consumables
Minimalists and hard-to-shop-for people love consumables. A few ideas beyond homemade cookies:
A Coffee Shop Crawl via a variety of Gift Cards
Stock their Cheese Drawer with local selections
Murdick’s Fudge ships
Mimis’s Hittin’ The Sauce local hot sauce ships
A CSA from Island Grown, Morning Glory or Beetlebung
🛍️ Sustainable + Charitable Gifting
♻️ Thrift Something
If you are able to shop in person and want to be more sustainable:
Buying from Act Two and Chicken Alley supports their causes with every purchase. You can even bring a family member on a thrift-hopping afternoon as a gift!
Island Vintage is having a 25% off sale this weekend so you can go see what nostalgic picks they have
Or you can give the gift of service and offer to reorganize their closet and donate clothes to Clothes to Go. Anchors Away MV is a great in-home organization service you can partner with for this!
🤲 Donate
Don’t forget to donate this season to your favorite island nonprofit. You can make a donation in someone’s honor.
Where to Donate: 50+ options in these guides: Service Non-Profits is a great start, or 20 Non-Profits lists many as well. Or use the Volunteer Guide find their favorite cause and make a donation in their honor.
Lis’s Pick: The Red Stocking Fund is locally run by volunteers and provides warm winter clothing and food for children on MV. Keep an eye out for donation bins (and buses) around the island.
Lift Certificates are subsidized by MV Bank so you pay less and they get the full value. A few local favorites included on their site: Conrado, Ben+Bills, Bad Martha, Edgartown Pizza, Coastal Supply Co + many more.
If you need help keeping track of holiday deals, I’ll be updating a centralized list on my IG Stories all week as new sales are announced. Lots of reasons to shop small from anywhere ❤️
Support Local Always,
Lis
*There are no affiliate links in this post, just genuine support 😊
Great post, Lis! Here’s another great gift idea for the writer in your life: Islanders Write online workshops, coming up in early 2026: https://www.mvtimes.com/islanderswrite/islanders-write-immersives/
How about a private cheese tasting experience 😉