Collaborations: Successes and Horror Stories

Martha brings up a subject that has always intrigued me.  In life there is no question that working together and conserving resources is a sane route to go, but with arts organizations does it really work?  Are we driven to collaborate because funders want and demand it?  What happens with the actual dollars?  Are they split equally between the partners?  What about the workload?  Does each group do their fair share, or is one group "lifting the water" resentfully while other groups seize the glory and the credit?  Should there be an additional administrative fee to the organization that writes, monitors and administers a grant above and beyond what the partners get? Perhaps as Martha writes, in real life collaborations work best when organizations share a different audience and a different mission.  Is this true?  I have always thought about "block booking" to reduce artist fees, joint publicity and marketing around a common theme or goal, office supply coops and even shared space and staffing make alot of sense.  As in any field of endeavor an open line of communication with a well thought out list of expectations is essential for collaborations to be successful.  I would love to hear from you about what collaborations have worked and what haven't.