Should I donate or recycle my 2014 iMac?

I would suggest checking the health of the iMac's internal hard drive by using DriveDx (free trial period). Any DriveDx "Warnings" or "Failing" notices indicate the hard drive is worn out or failing respectively. Feel free to post the complete text report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper on the forum editing toolbar.

If you decide to donate, then at least you can be up front that at the very least the hard drive is good or bad.

It is fine to donate hardware to those who are able to deal with any hardware issues that may exist, but do not donate to anyone who is not knowledgeable on being able to deal with old hardware and possible repairs. It just puts a burden any "charities" since they would then be responsible for proper disposal of the electronics which usually involves fees. I had to examine donated items for schools & churches and nearly 100% of those items were beyond being economically viable to repair. I really felt bad for those institutions being burdened with storing & disposing of those items.

A possible choice for donating old items would be vocational tech schools which may want or need older devices to teach how to repair hardware. Or maybe there is a local repair shop that may be interested in refurbishing old equipment or using it for parts.

With a 2014 iMac, you may be able to keep using the iMac by installing macOS onto an external USB3 SSD with UASP support as long as the internal hard drive does not have a severe failure which could interfere with system performance even when booted to external media.

Another option if macOS 11.x Big Sur is too old would be to install Linux Mint on the iMac.

You will get opposing views on this question, but I would have to side with BDAqua on this one as I have personally seen the benefits that donating can bring about.

Donating is still far more beneficial than recycling. The old adage of "One man's trash, is another man's treasure" can certainly apply here.

Here are some examples:

• It can benefit someone learning how to troubleshoot Macs, or even repair them, regardless of its condition.
• Someone who is struggling financially could certainly benefit.
• Donating it to a senior center would help those seniors learn how to use computers without having to invest in one until such time they are comfortable with them.
• Donating it to a local services agency, that provides free services to the community, to help keep their operating costs down.
• Etc.

I too am in the "donate" group. However, you may need to find the right kind of person. I know the schools in my area want computer donations but will not accept anything more than 2 years old. They wish - I haven't ever owned anything less than 5 years old, and typically 8-12 years old! I can understand their perspective a little in terms of not having to coddle old equipment, but still...

Anyway, in terms of coddling old equipment, you will need to find the right kind of person. Using older equipment takes a certain amount of know-how and patience. Not all software will work and you have to be a bit skilled at keeping the system optimized to do what it can. Your Mac is 10 years old now which makes it truly geriatric.

By the way, it may have a great monitor but it will not work as a display unless somebody else has equally old equipment that is also running an old operating system version. Use your iMac as a display with target display mode - Apple Support

If you donate it make sure it's been prepared according to this Apple document: What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac - Apple Support  . If you don't the recipient could be saddled with a money pit and, as has been warned, a non useable Mac.

Donating junk electronics to clueless friends/relatives/children/bosses/subordinates etc., is a great way to…

…make enemies. All have long, very high-speed random-access memories. Avoid.

I'd try donating it first of all.

Servant of Cats wrote:

It won’t support Target Display Mode at all. Target Display Mode went away when the first 27” 5K Retina iMac - THIS iMac - came out.

Okay, okay. I trust that the OP can read the document to find out the exact requirements. They are too many and too detailed to confuse somebody with them here. ;-) Since the OP didn't even mention it I probably shouldn't have brought it up in the first place, and that's why I didn't go in and research it in detail. It just occurred to me as a last minute edit.

It won’t support Target Display Mode at all. Target Display Mode went away when the first 27” 5K Retina iMac - THIS iMac - came out.