The article reveals the concept of museum franchising as a successful brand strategy of modern world-class cultural institutions arising from development of their fundraising activities and efforts to meet the challenges of globalization. Particular attention is paid to specific features of the innovative approaches to the study of international activities of museums, explained under the concept of soft power museum diplomacy. The research concludes that the emergence of museums' foreign branches and the development of Joseph Nye's “Soft Power” theory contribute to evolution of the concept of museum diplomacy.